What to Expect
by dragonmaiden50
Summary: "All you ever wanted to do was create life," the Gate had whispered before transmuting him into a foreign body. Now Edward has to relearn what it is to live, work, and fall in love...as a woman. (femEd / Roy Mustang also some Al/Winry)
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone!

This is a fanfiction in which the Gate morphs Ed into a girl (gasp) for metaphorical reasons (double gasp) that will be explained at the end of the fic (HUMONGOUS GASP OF INFINITY). I already have four chapters written with many more planned out. I have not been writing fan fiction ( for anyone who follows any of my other stories) for a long time now because I was working on an actual novel. However do not despair. While some of my stories are abandoned (sorry :/) others I WILL FINISH.

Anyway. ON WITH THE SHOW.

**Chapter 1**

The Gate ominously bore down upon him. and seemed to stretch as the doors creaked open slowly. Eyes stared out before receding and turning inward to look within the depths of the darkness. A white figure strode out and came to stand before Edward's prostrate form.

"Give him back," Edward panted. He was bleeding profusely from his right side. The transmutation which had brought him here had ripped into his stomach. He knew it was fatal but he didn't care if he died here. This was it. They'd managed to finally get their hands on a stone and he had one chance to get Alphonse back.

"And what will you give me in return," the Gate said, bending down.

"Take whatever you want," Edward grit out. "Just give Alphonse his body back."

The white form reached down and touched his wound. "All you ever wanted to do was create life," the Gate whispered. Suddenly, it smiled in a way that reminded Edward too much of how Gluttony grinned right before trying to eat you. He shivered and resisted the urge to flinch away. This thing could kill him if it wanted. He was going to die here but it would be worth it if Alphonse got his body back. That was all that mattered.

"I'll give you what you want," the white form said and reached down and pressed into Edward's wound. He cried out and thrashed in pain as the creature reached inside. He was dying. He was…was…

Edward groaned as he sat up off the hard ground. His head hurt and he felt funny but he seemed altogether okay. He was still in the basement of their old house. The rafters were burnt and the ceiling was gone to let in the morning light as it crept over the hills of Risembol. The stone was gone, having been destroyed in equivalent exchange, and in its place lay a pale body.

"Alphonse!" Edward yelled and scrambled over to his brother's still form. It seemed that within the Gate his body had matured to the right age. His hair was long and his body was so thin his ribs were showing. He rolled Alphonse over and placed his ear to his chest.

"Thank god," Edward sighed when he heard the faint rhythm. He gave his brother a shake and after a few minutes of coaxing Alphonse opened his eyes.

"Brother?" Alphonse sat up and a huge grin broke out on his gaunt face as he held up his hands. "I'm back!" he cried out. "Edward it worked!" His eyes were tearing up from sheer joy when he finally looked up at Ed.

"Oh my god."

"What is it?" Edward said. He'd been so focused on making sure Alphonse was okay he hadn't checked his own body. He looked down to see his stomach was healed, his arm was back, and…

His breath caught in his throat. Just below his collar bones two bumps had formed. In a panic he ripped his shirt off and gasped at the sight. He had grown breasts. But not just that, he also had a thinner form. His muscles had toned down into strong feminine curves. In a panic, he pulled the waist band of his pants out so he could look down at himself.

"Is it gone?" Alphonse asked. Edward nodded slowly.

"That son of a bitch," Edward swore as he lay back on the ground and covered his face with two flesh hands. He was a woman. The gate had taken the stone, restored their bodies, and changed him into a god damn woman. He started to hyperventilate.

"Hey," Alphonse said softly as he hugged his brother…sister. "We're alive. I have my body back. This is just something else we'll have to fix. We'll get you back to normal."

"NO!" Edward yelled so violently Alphonse flinched back. She yanked her shirt back on over her head. "No…I am never dealing with that Gate again. You are back and I have my arm and I am not risking losing that again. I will just have to…deal with this. It's no different than when I lost my arm and leg. I'll adjust."

"But…"

"No and that's final!" Edward cut Alphonse off. She stood up and swayed as her automail leg buckled under her. The leg had been fitted to match her right, but it seemed the transformation had changed her thighs just enough that the original masculine cuff no longer fit. She braced herself on the wall and did her best to help Alphonse to his feet. She reached down to retrieve her red jacket and draped it over his nude form.

Seeing them both standing there against the wall, Alphonse limping like a newborn calf and she transformed and unable to move her automail, caused her to start giggling. It was an altogether foreign sound that was more high-pitched and light than her normal laugh. But she couldn't help it. All of the stress and anxiety had finally cause a part of her to snap.

"All this work…and now we can't even…get back to Winry's house," she giggled. "We can never win." Alphonse started to laugh now too. "Yeah." He agreed and they both kept laughing loud and hard. "My stomach hurts!" Alphonse panted so enthralled at being able to feel anything. They both finally gave up standing and slumped back down to lean against the wall.

"You think they'll come and find us?" Alphonse asked as his laughing finally started to subside.

"Yeah they will," Edward confirmed. "I left a note for Granny Pinako about where we were going. She'll send Winry when she realizes we snuck out."

They settled in to watch the sun creep up and shine down onto the ruins of their childhood home. It was several hours before Winry showed up.

"Alphonse! You're body…" she cried upon finding them. She reached down and hugged him as a huge grin broke out over her face. "And Ed…your arm…and…" Her smile fell as Winry realized something felt off. She'd always been attracted to Edward even if he drove her crazy. It was a crush that had grown as they'd both matured, but now she looked at Ed and felt nothing.

"I was changed into a woman," Edward explained. Winry gasped and Ed pressed on. "I'm not going to try to fix it, but I think I need new automail. The old one doesn't fit this new body."

Going into mechanic mode, Winry reached down and checked Edward's leg. "Yeah…I think I see what the problem is. We should be able to salvage most of it but I'm going to have to re-measure and you might need to have some surgery again." She stood up swiftly. "But for now let's get you both back to the house."

It was awkward, with Winry acting as a crutch between them, but they slowly made their way back to the Rockbell home. Pinako ran out to meet them with much the same reactions as her granddaughter when she realized what had happened. She smacked Edward over the head with her newspaper. "Don't you ever take off like that again," she scolded before helping Edward and Alphonse into the house.

The first week was a busy one. Alphonse was incredibly sensitive to everything. His sense of smell seemed almost superhuman, and he was having so much fun just experiencing everything. One afternoon, he spent three hours just lying in the grass and letting the sun warm his skin with a huge smile on his face. He was also eating with gusto which with time would help to fill out his emaciated body.

And then there was Edward. The first week she had spent much of her time in a wheelchair. Her old leg had been removed and she had shut herself off in the bedroom to read. Alphonse would often go in to try and coax her out, but Edward was stubborn as a bull.

"What is he…she reading in there anyway?" Winry asked one day when Alphonse had tried and failed once again to get Edward to come outside with him.

"I don't know," Alphonse said. "I think she's trying to figure out how she's going to live ya know. I wish she'd just let me try to fix it. I mean I lived in armor for five years. I know what it's like to be left in a body that's not mine."

"Well that's stupid," Winry said dismissively. "You can't learn to be a woman by reading about it. I should know." She opened the door to Ed's room.

Edward was sitting next to the window flipping through Winry's copy of Julian Ashton's _A History of Women in Automail_. Winry stomped over and yanked the book out of her grasp. Ed tried to snatch it but Winry danced far enough away that she couldn't reach.

"This is getting ridiculous. You get your brother back and you lock yourself in your room all day," she griped. "Why don't you go out with him? Alphonse needs to get his strength back. You two can go down to town and buy some groceries. Anything as long as you aren't sitting here anymore!"

"I can't," Edward huffed.

"And why not."

"Because I can't be Edward Elric anymore," Ed snapped at her. "This…" She gestured to her breasts which were filling out a black tank top. "It would be considered human transmutation. If the wrong person found out, the military would be here in hours. Alphonse and I could disappear into some laboratory."

"Ed…" Winry started but Ed continued.

"The man known as Edward Elric died in a horrible accident when the rotted ceiling of his childhood home caved in. We can have a funeral and bury some ashes from the fire. I was thinking I could be a distant cousin named Edna who came for the funeral and decided to stay. I was trying to figure out who I could get to falsify a birth certificate for me."

Alphonse was leaning against the doorway. "And what about me?" he asked.

"You were in your armor when the ceiling fell. It protected you although it damaged the armor beyond repair and you threw it away," Edward said. "I know it's not the best lie but if enough people believe it, we can make it true."

Winry let out a long sigh. "Okay. I'll make some calls and we'll set up this fake funeral." She smacked Ed over the head with the book before handing it back to her. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Winry asked grimly. "There are a lot of people who'll be devastated by your death."

Edward nodded. "I'm sure. This is the best way to keep us all safe."

The funeral preparations took several weeks. Alphonse sent out a few letters to several people out of town and ran an obituary in the local newspaper. They had an offer for a military funeral but they declined. They wanted to keep it small, quiet, and unobtrusive. The less people, the better.

The day of the funeral, Edward had been fitted with a new leg and was standing in the kitchen as Winry argued with her.

"Wear the dress Ed," she said to her. "It's you're funeral…literally. The least you can do is look nice for it."

"I am not wearing that. I will wear a suit like Alphonse," Ed ground out and crossed her arms over her chest. She growled when she couldn't figure out whether to put her arms above or below her breasts. "I hate these boobs! Why couldn't I have little ones?!" She never in her life thought she'd wish for a part of her body to be smaller.

Winry rolled her eyes. "Well get used to them _Edna_. Alphonse help me out here." She looked over at Alphonse who was munching on an apple at the kitchen table. The month since he was back in his body had filled out his features nicely. His hair was cut short and his body was getting stronger and growing to a healthier weight.

"You're on your own Winry," he said with a grin. Despite her anger, Ed's features softened, as they always did at the sight of her brother whole and happy.

"Ed be reasonable," Winry insisted. "Women wear dresses to events like this. You can get away with pants other times, but it will seem suspicious if you go in a suit." She held up the floor length dress again. It was a simple black one that had a split that went up to the knee and short frilly sleeves. The collar was cut shallow so it didn't show much cleavage and had some pretty white embroidery along the edge.

"This whole funeral is to protect you and Alphonse. You can't give yourself away just because you don't want to wear a dress," Winry tried to explain one last time.

Edward sighed and finally snatched the clothing out of Winry's hands. "Fine…I will wear the dress," she ground out, exasperated. "But I don't want to hear a word out of either of you when I come out."

She stomped into the bathroom, slammed the door, and started to strip. Ed wore exactly what she had always worn as a man: a black tank top, leather pants, and big black boots that fit nicely over her flesh and auto mail feet. However a few things had changed. In addition to the tank top she now had on a bra which Pinako had bought after Ed had come out one cold morning with her nipples practically popping out. She also had gotten Ed some generic white panties which she absolutely refused to wear. Instead she kept her blue boxers, arguing they were more comfortable.

Once she stripped down to her boxers, she noticed something sticky running down the inside of her leg. She pulled the waistband out and looked down at her crotch. The disappearance of her penis in exchange for several folds of skin still weirded her out, but she was slowly coming to accept it as just another part of her body. It reminded her too much of what it had been like to lose her limbs and have them replaced by automail. At first the metal had felt foreign but with time they had grown on her.

Edward reached down and felt between the folds and brought up her hand to find blood coating her fingers. She was a scientist and as such had read quite a bit about human anatomy, both boy and girl, so she was aware of menstrual cycles. But she still felt a moment of panic at seeing evidence of her own.

"Winry!" she yelled. In a moment the door flew open and Winry and Alphonse were seen standing in the door.

"What is it!?" Alphonse asked obviously thinking Ed had gotten hurt to yell like that.

However, Winry took one look at the blood on Ed's hand and immediately realized what was going on.

"Out!" she said and shoved Alphonse bodily from the room. She slammed the door in the poor boy's face. "Sorry Al. Girl stuff," she called through the door.

"What do I do?" Ed asked, her voice taking on an uncommon note of worry. Winry moved to the tub and turned on the shower. "Take off the rest of your clothes and get in. You're going to need to have to wash up first. I'll get you some fresh underwear," she said in a calm tone.

Edward went to remove her boxers and then stopped. "Um…shouldn't you leave first?" Winry turned around so her back was to Ed. She heard Ed start to disrobe behind her.

"Hey Winry," Ed said softly.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I wish you didn't have to see me like this." She climbed into the shower and closed the curtain. "Okay you can turn around now."

"It's okay," Winry said as she turned around and went to pick up Ed's dirty clothes.

"I promised you I would give you half of my life…and in this body…" Edward trailed off as he looked down at her naked female form.

"Ed we made that promise a long time ago. I loved you. I still love you, but you're a woman now." She paused as tears came to her eyes. "There was a part of me that was always planning on you not ever coming back anyway."

Edward stiffened at that confession. It was true that at the time there had still been too much at stake. There was no guarantee their search wouldn't kill her. As it was, she had almost died a handful of times.

Winry went on, her voice breaking into sobs. "I'm not attracted to you now, ya know?" she admitted. "You're always going to be my family, but um…"

"I know Winry," Edward said through the curtain. "I know."

Winry wiped her eyes. "I'll have Granny come in and help you okay," she said before opening the door. Alphonse was standing outside it and reached out to her when he saw the tears.

"Leave me alone Al," Winry snapped angrily before darting around him and running towards the laundry room with Ed's clothes.

Edward stayed in the shower feeling wretched for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, she heard Granny Pinako come in. The little woman pulled back the curtain and glanced in at Ed sitting on the bathtub floor with the cooling water pouring over her.

"You and I both knew that conversation had to happen eventually," the older Rockbell said. "Winry is a strong girl. She had to deal with her parents death and you two leaving. She'll move on and so will you." She smiled softly. "Now c'mon. I'll show you how we women deal with this troublesome thing."

Alphonse stepped into the laundry room quietly and closed the door behind him. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened between Winry and his sister, but he had heard enough to know it had to do with Ed's gender change.

She was hunched over the sink scrubbing at some of Ed's clothes. Once she'd removed the stains she put them in the laundry basin to be washed later. Alphonse came over to stand behind her and he saw her stiffen.

Winry had always been beautiful in his eyes. Ever since they were children, Ed and he would challenge each other to contests with the winner being the one who would marry her. He had, as the younger of the two, lost many of them. In his mind Winry had always been more his brother's girl than his. Even though many times he'd wished it was the other way around.

"Alphonse, tell Ed and Granny I'll be out in a minute," she said, trying to get him to go away. He knew she didn't like him listening to her cry.

"No," Alphonse said. Winry glanced back at him. "I'm not going anywhere." Before she had a chance to push him away, he reached down and pulled her into a hug. She tensed before hugging him back. "I'm sorry," she cried into his shoulder.

"You have no reason to be sorry," Alphonse said and brushed her hair with his hand. "When I was in armor, I could never do this for you. I'm glad I can now."

"Thank you," Winry said as she started to calm down. "Thanks Al."


	2. Chapter 2

So thank you all so much for the reviews and favs and followers. It was really a lovely response and I appreciate it so much. Also a thank you to 4-Shiloh-4 for pointing out my spelling error which has been fixed. Prostrate and Prostate are two VERY different words haha '^_^. And now on with the show.

Chapter 2

The funeral was a solemn affair. They had only told a handful of people about the ceremony but word had spread that the Alchemist of the People was dead. There were Rose and several other people from the town of Reole, Russell and Fletcher Tringham, miners from Youswell, and a small group of people from Risembol. There was also a large collection of military men from Central and perhaps the most depressing was the sight of Havoc, Fuery, Falman, Breda, and Hawkeye flanking Colonel Mustang. Armstong was besides them sobbing into a handkerchief the size of a tablecloth and hugging Sheska who looked very disturbed at having to comfort a man three times her size. Right up front by the grave was Winry and Granny Pinako who stood behind Alphonse. He was carrying a small vase which supposedly held the ashes of his deceased brother.

Edward hung at the back, not wanting to be recognized. She got a few strange looks but most people were focused on what was happening up front and ignored her. Seeing all the tears made her feel incredibly guilty but she tried to keep her features schooled to something neutral.

The priest finished saying the last rites and then Alphonse placed the little vase down in the hole that had been dug. He then clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. The hole filled in and a stone marker sprang from the earth above it. It was actually quite pretty. It was in the shape of his personal symbol of the cross entwined with a snake and on it read _Edward Elric_ and the dates of his birth and death.

Winry announced that they would be having a picnic back at the Rockbell home and invited anyone who wished to come up. The crowd dispersed, many of them following the Rockbells towards the promise of food.

Once the majority of them had left, Edward finally made her way from the back of the procession to the front. It was a surreal feeling to be standing over her own grave, and she felt a strange sense of loss. Maybe in a way, Edward Elric really was dying today.

She felt someone step up beside her and glanced over. Ed froze when she saw Roy Mustang. He was looking forlornly down at the stone with the unmistakable track of tears making his way down his cheeks. The rest of his unit had gone, giving their Colonel a few moments of peace.

"You damn fool," Ed heard him say under his breath. "You got Al back but at what price?" Roy seemed to realize someone was watching him and he looked over to where Ed was standing. His jaw literally dropped.

"Edward?" Roy gaped. But then his eyes traveled down below the face to the feminine curves wrapped in a pretty black dress. He shook his head and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry…you just…you look a lot like the deceased."

Edward bit her lip. She really wanted to tell him the truth. She hated doing this to Roy. He might have been a Colonel Bastard, but he didn't deserve to look so broken. "Yeah…um…about that." She'd always been able to tell the truth to Roy. If it hadn't been for this man she and Al might have never gotten their bodies back. She sighed and turned to face Roy fully. "Ed's not dead. He just changed so much that this was the only way to cover up the truth."

Roy's eyes widened.

"Ed!? Is that you!?" he gawked. Ed grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the grave. "Keep it down," Ed hissed. Although most of the people were gone, there were still some hanging back to give their last respects.

"Yeah it's me," Ed said after she'd pulled Roy behind a tree several rows away. "But you can't tell a soul. So far only Al, Winry, and Pinako know."

"How?" Mustang asked his eyes traveling down to Ed's body. "I mean are you really a woman under there?"

Edward pursed her lips and glanced to the side. "Yes," she said with a blush on her face. "We managed to get a hold of a philosopher's stone from the homunculi. I used it to get Alphonse's body and my arm back, but for whatever reason the Gate changed my gender. Winry checked me all out. I'm perfectly healthy. It's as if I was born this way."

Roy pushed his hand through his hair as he shook his head. "And you waited all this time to tell me because?" Edward just shrugged. "Don't you shrug at me!" Roy snapped as he started to get angry. "I was worried sick about you and Alphonse. I knew you two were getting close to a stone and then you disappear for over a month and I can't track you down no matter what I try. Then I get a letter from Alphonse saying his body is back and you're dead!" Roy grabbed Ed's shoulders and shook her. "I thought you'd used yourself to do it! I knew it wasn't some stupid accident. More like some stupid suicide attempt that had worked." He let her go, seething.

"I didn't know what to do!" Edward shouted back. "If anyone found out, this counts as human transmutation. Not to mention that it's not as if I could stroll back to Central and have people believe I was Edward Elric."

"You could have called!" Roy countered.

"And your phone is probably tapped by your adversaries and your mail could be being checked too!" Ed yelled back. She was so irritated right now she was half way between punching Roy in the stomach and crying. "Just leave it alone," she said. "What's done is done and like I told Alphonse, I'm not going to try and fix this." She gestured to her female body. "I won't risk it."

"So you're just going to live your life as a woman?" Roy asked surprised.

"Yeah. I am! Gotta problem with that?" Edward demanded.

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to reign in his temper. He finally dropped his hand and turned away from her. "You know what. Do whatever you want because as of today you are not my subordinate anymore." He brought his gloved fingers dangerously close to snapping. "However don't you dare ever do anything so reckless again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sure Colonel Bastard," Edward said. "Well c'mon. I'm starving and if we don't hurry all the food will be gone." She started down the road and for the first time Roy noticed her black boots poking out beneath the dress. Despite having changed genders, it seemed Ed was still Ed.

After everyone had left from the funeral, Edward barricaded herself in her room. She felt wretched, but at the same time she also felt tired. She had died today. Everyone she knew or cared about thought she was gone. It was almost like she had to start life all over again. Not that that wasn't very freeing, but there were some things she was going to miss. Seeing everyone around her grave had made her realize that.

She came out a few hours later, following the smell of food to the kitchen. Edward paused at the doorway. Alphonse, Winry, Roy, Hawkeye, and the rest of the military team were seated at the table with Granny Pinako who ladled out large portions of stew.

"I never thought I'd have so many soldiers sitting at my table," Pinako grumbled. "But I guess for Ed's funeral I'll make this one exception." The older woman gave Ed a sly smirk as she came into room and plunked herself down into the chair across from Roy.

"What are all you guys still doing here?" Ed asked as she started to dig into her stew. She had changed out of her dress for an old t-shirt and slacks.

"Their train doesn't leave until 8pm so I invited them to stay for dinner," Alphonse explained. "I thought it would be a nice time to see everyone."

Ed caught Havoc giving her a funny look before raising an eyebrow at him. Oh right. She was going to have to reintroduce herself. "Edna Elric. I'm Ed's and Al's cousin." She said and thrust a hand out for him to shake. Havoc smiled at her and took the proffered hand.

"Well I have to say Edna, you're definitely an Elric," Fuery said from across the table. "You look an awful lot like your cousin, God rest his soul."

"So I'm told," Ed said and shot a look at Roy who was glowering at her. She finished her stew and took another large helping. As she ate, the others started sharing stories about Edward.

"Hey you remember how Ed always used to get so mad at calling him short. Like you couldn't even mention anything being small or he would freak out," Breda chortled.

"I am not…er…Ed wasn't that short," Ed protested, ignoring the questioning stare Hawkeye was giving her.

Roy raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh yeah," he said giving Ed a steady gaze. "I used to call him Fullmetal Pipsqueak all the time. Smaller than a bean. So small if you didn't watch where you were going you'd squish him." Ed's hands tightened on the table as she resisted the urge to transmute it into a giant fist and slam him against the wall.

Havoc puffed on his cigarette. "Yeah and then there was the time the boss leveled a building trying to stop the Hot Air Alchemist from driving a balloon full of explosives into the clock tower. I think the chief just about burnt him to a crisp for that one. I remember sitting out in the office listening to you two scream at each other."

"Yeah but you noticed the building had been condemned," Breda mentioned. "Ed might have been destructive but he wasn't an idiot."

"No he was not," Roy agreed. "At least not all the time." The knowing gaze he directed at Ed made her feel suddenly very uncomfortable. He smirked at her discomfort and she wiggled in her chair a moment as he continued to stare at her. She glared back.

"What about you Edna?" the usually silent Falman cut in. "Did you know Fullmetal well?"

Ed swiveled her head towards him. "Uh…yeah," she mumbled. "He used to stop by the house if he was passing through."

"Where was that?" Hawkeye asked, leaning forward and folding her arms on the table.

"Nehole," Ed said automatically. It had been a small town her and Al had never worked any kind of jobs in, but they had passed through and stayed the night several times during their journeys. It was a lot like Risembol in that it was a quiet country town with very little ever changing. "Although I was thinking I might move somewhere else soon," she said.

"Well maybe you should consider Central," Havoc considered conversationally. His voice dropped an octave. "I'd be happy to show you around town if you're interested." Ed scooted back a bit as Havoc suddenly leaned forward into her personal space.

Roy stood up. "Well I think it's time for us to go," he said briskly, giving Havoc a very sharp _back off_ glare. The man got the message and stood up with the rest of their crew following him out the door.

Once they were gone, Roy gave one last nod to Winry and Pinako. "Thank you for sharing your home with us," he said to them. "Alphonse I wish you well, and Ed…" he paused. "Take care of yourself and be careful."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello Everyone :) So I wanted to say just a quick little something here. FMA is based, roughly, around the same time as the 1940s. Women's suffrage, in America anyway, was still a very new concept in that it was only a few decades old. Also things like free birth control, women as bosses, women in the military, were still hot topics being discussed in both the social and political arena. That all being said, FMA from my point of view seems very forward thinking in how Hiromu Arakawa portrayed it. The point is Ed's going to receive some sexism in the next several chapters. I don't think its right but its a real thing that women still face to this day and for the sake of accuracy needs to be addressed.

Anyway...on with the show.

**Chapter 3**

It had been three months now and summer was waning into colder weather. With Alphonse on the mend, Ed and he had decided to start sparing again to build up their strength. They kept it mostly hand to hand but every once and awhile they'd add alchemy into the mix to keep themselves fresh.

Today had been a day like that. They had started with boxing but soon a blunt staff had emerged from the ground before Ed quickly followed by two stone gauntlets that had sprung up and attached themselves to Al's arms. They had parried back and forth for an hour before their bodies had finally quit on them.

The siblings sat on the ground and watched the setting sun as they panted and shared the bottle of water they had brought. "Ya know," Alphonse said. "I don't miss my armor, but I could go forever with that thing and never tire. It's kindda nice though to feel my body changing the more we work."

"Yeah it is," Edward agreed. "I have to be careful with mine. My right arm is breakable again."

"How you doing by the way?" Alphonse asked.

"Okay. It's strange but it's not so much different than being a man," Ed answered. "You?"

Alphonse was silent for a moment. "I think I'm in love with Winry," he finally told her. "In a few years, I might ask for her to marry me. What do you think?"

Edward felt her heart twinge. She and Winry had essentially broken up. Alphonse would be good for her or rather they would be good for each other. "I think that's a wonderful idea," she said. "It'll keep at least one Elric in Risembol."

"So you're still thinking about leaving for Central," Al said.

"Yeah," Edward confirmed. "You want to open an alchemy shop here and Risembol just isn't big enough for two alchemists. Plus I think it's time for us to move on and just do what we want to do. There's no one to save, no mission, no military. I want to figure out what to do with my life."

"Well I think I'll be staying here," Alphonse said and drew his knees up to his chest. "I never told anyone this but I'd always liked Winry and Risembol. But I didn't know if I'd ever get back to normal. I knew you would be the better husband because you could kiss her and give her children. I was always worried that someday we might just give up and move back here." He wiped his eyes. "I sometimes wondered if you would all grow old and die and I'd be left here alone and unable to move on.

Edward gave her little brother a punch in the arm. "Don't be stupid. I would never have allowed that," she scolded him gently. "So stop crying over things that never happened."

"I know," Alphonse said thankfully. "It just feels good to get that all out."

"You could have told me," Edward reminded him. "You can tell me anything Alphonse." She gave him a large grin before jumping up and stretching. She reached out to help Alphonse to his feet. "Let's get back to the house. I'm sure Pinako has dinner ready for us."

Edward had rarely cried but that day on the Risembol platform had been one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. She had given Winry and even Pinako a hug before embracing her brother for a long time. Neither of them moved, both just holding on for that one second more until the train whistle caused her to break away.

Winry handed her a little brightly wrapped present. "Open it on the train, and come back often to visit. You still need to have regular maintenance on your leg."

"And be careful Ed," Pinako reminded her. "A young woman traveling on her own is a lot different than a young man."

"I'm going to miss you. Call us when you get settled," Alphonse said and hugged Ed one more time before she stepped back onto the train. The engine started up and she waved at them from the window until they had vanished from her sight.

Sitting back in her seat, Ed tore the wrapping off the little gift and opened the box within. It was a locket. Already knowing what she would find inside, she carefully pried it open to see Alphonse and Winry's pictures smiling up at him. She hadn't meant for the tears to fall, but once they had started they just wouldn't stop. Alphonse and she had always been a team, but that team had to break up eventually. Alphonse needed his space if he was going to foster the kind of relationship he wanted with Winry.

As for Edward, it was just time to move on. She had never been the kind of person to sit idle in one place. If the military had taught her one thing it was that she liked to be where the action was. She liked the busy atmosphere of cities and meeting new people. She needed to find her own path now even if that path might not be with Alphonse anymore.

Ed slipped the chain around her neck and rolled the cool metal between her fingers as the train lolled her into a light sleep. I wasn't until the conductor shook her that she finally snapped awake, having snoozed the entire ride.

"Last stop Ma'am. Central Station."

She nodded to him and stretched as she dragged her suitcase from the rack above and stepped onto the platform. There had only been one person she could call to help her get settled in Central and despite how much he still got on her nerves, Ed was happy to find Colonel Roy Mustang waving at her from across the crowd.

She jogged over to him. "Oi Colonel Bastard. Long time no see," she greeted.

"You as well Fullmetal Pipsqueak," Roy retorted and reached down to pluck Ed's luggage from her hands.

"Who you calling tiny!?" Edward snapped as she tried to grab the suitcase back. "And give me that. I can carry it."

"A gentleman always carries the lady's bags," Roy said with a smirk. Ed floundered on that last remark for a retort. But by the time she had mustered one up he was already walking away, and she had to rush to fall in step with his longer strides.

"So where are we going?" Edward asked as Roy hailed one of the many cabs waiting outside the station.

"Well you asked for me to check out some apartments for you, and I think I found just the one," Roy told her. "It's a one bedroom, one bathroom, with a den, living room, and kitchen. And downstairs there's an old shop. You said you wanted to open your own business right?"

"Yeah," Edward said. "Alphonse transferred all the money from my Military Death Benefits to an account. Not to mention Winry and Al were the beneficiaries of my savings which they gave back to me as well. So I have enough to live for a little while but I'm going to have to figure out a way to make money soon."

"I think this should have everything you need," Roy stated. "The land lady seemed nice enough. She's an old friend of mine."

"More like old squeeze," Edward suggested.

"Despite what everyone says I have not slept with every woman in Central," Roy said with a joking tone. "And now that you're here, you can be proof of this fact."

Edward shook her head. "Yeah ew. I'd rather stay a virgin forever," she gagged. But of course the conversation led her to have an image of Roy with no shirt. She didn't have to imagine what it looked like. She had seen it plenty of times before in the bathrooms at the military dorms on rare occasions when Roy would stay late and opt to spend the night over going home.

Her brain unbridled thought of an image where he reached for her in much the same way she'd seen him sidle up to a skirt. She glanced up to see him giving her that trademark smirk of his and a blush hit her face. The hell was wrong with her? Her thighs grew hot and suddenly the space within the car felt very very small.

Roy's smile fell. "You okay Ed. You just turned really red," he said and plucked off his glove to place it on her forehead. She pulled away from the contact.

"Yeah I'm fine," she lied. "Just tired from the trip. How much further to the apartment?"

"We'll be there shortly," Roy told her with a concerned look on his face.

The cab finally pulled up to a small building squished between an apartment complex and a restaurant. As Roy had described, there was a tiny shop on street level. It had a display window and a door that opened to a small space filled with shelves and a counter. Behind the counter a set of stairs led to the apartment.

"Surprised?" Roy said when Ed looked around at the furnishings. There was a couch in the living room, a double bed in the bedroom, and a desk and bookshelf in the den. The kitchen also had some cutlery and dishes stored away in the cupboards. "You gave me a sizable sum to work with so I used what was left to get you a few things. You'll need to get more but this should get you started."

"Thanks," Edward said upon inspecting all of the rooms. It would be just big enough for herself… and maybe a small dog. She'd always liked dogs.

"I took the whole afternoon off to help get you settled, so I thought we could go grocery shopping?" Roy suggested.

"Yeah that sounds good," Ed said slowly as she dropped her suitcase on the bed. She frowned at Roy. "What's the catch?" she wondered and tilted her head to the side. He was being awfully nice to her.

"There's no catch," Roy said showing unconcealed honesty. "You need to get some groceries and I have nothing else I have to attend to for the rest of the afternoon." In truth he could return to work to finish a rather alarming stack of paperwork…but grocery shopping sounded like a much more enjoyable option.

Ed tried to see if he was lying, but she knew him too well. He was telling the truth. "Alright then," she said and reached into her bag to retrieve her wallet. She shoved it into her coat pocket and led the way downstairs.

It was much more enjoyable to go shopping then Ed had thought it would be. They walked two blocks to the nearest market and snagged a basket to fill with goods. As they moved their way from stall to stall, they chatted about the military and politics that had yet to reach the sleepy town of Risembol.

"The new Fuhrer has really been pushing for demilitarizing the government. There's been a huge outcry from both within and outside the military. A lot of peoples' livelihoods count on the government after all," Roy said.

"In Central. In the outlying towns there's no military," Ed reminded Roy.

"I know and I see his point," Roy said. "He thinks that if there's a small military incidents like Ishval can be diverted to a peaceful resolution. What he doesn't realize is that a small military would also signal to the Drachma nation that we're weak enough to take over. Same thing down south. We're flanked on all sides by countries whom would gladly conquer us if they could."

"It sounds like a problem," Ed agreed already starting to get on her game face before remembering that now she was Edna, the lone female alchemist citizen.

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll do anything too drastic. There are too many people opposed to it," Roy said. Edward headed to the checkout line.

"I can get this," Roy pulled out his wallet at the same time Ed did.

Ed was really startled now. "You want to pay!?"

Roy shrugged and handed the cashier several bills. Well if he really wanted to buy her food, she had no problem with that. They bagged their haul and started the trek back to the apartment.

"So what do you think you'll put in your little shop?" Roy asked.

"Guess," Ed said as she struggled to hold her bags. Without comment Roy reached over and snagged a few from her. Ed was really staring at him now.

"Alchemy," Roy said knowingly. "You know that's going to be a hard field to break into."

"Just watch me," Ed challenged.

Roy shook his head. "Don't think it's a matter of sheer willpower Ed. You're a woman now and women aren't usually alchemists."

Edward paused as she thought about that fact. It was, now that Roy pointed it out, strangely true. She'd known only one woman alchemist and that was her teacher Izumi Curtis. She tried to recall a state alchemist but to her knowledge not many female military employee did much more then secretary jobs and intelligence gathering. Women like Hawkeye were the rare exception.

"I wonder why that is?" Ed said aloud as Roy reached the door and jostled to get the key.

"Well that's an easy answer," Roy grunted as he shouldered his way in and up the stairs. "Babies."

"Babies!?" Ed reiterated.

"Yeah. Usually in a marriage, the wife is the one who stops going to work or gets a more flexible job when the couple has a baby. Women who don't have kids right away or ever are the ones more likely to have careers. Not saying you can't have a career with a baby, but it's hard." Roy put the groceries on the counter and started to unpack them and put them away.

"I never thought about it that way before," Ed said thoughtfully.

"That's because you've never had too. Maes and me used to talk about it when Elisia was born. Before she got pregnant, Gracia Hughes used to work at a flower shop. She had to quit a few months before Elisia was due."

Ed scoffed. "Well no worries there. I am never getting pregnant. That would involve doing things with a man…" She trailed off when she noticed Roy looking at her thoughtfully. She felt as though his gaze bore into her and her heart sped up in response.

She swallowed drily. "Um..what is it?"

"You need to be careful Edward," Roy said. "I know you were originally a man but everyone else will see you as a woman. Doing things like letting a man into your apartment when it's just the two of you is a big no no."

"And why is that?" Edward inquired, although she was well aware of the reason.

"I think you know why," Roy told him and his gaze dropped to Ed's chest causing her to turn as red as the tomato Roy was holding. Ed reached out and snatched the vegetable from Roy's grasp and tossed it on the counter.

"Well thanks for the warning and everything else. I got a lot to do to settle in so why don't you head home and do some reading." Ed grabbed Roy's hand and hustled him downstairs to the door. "If you ever need anything just give me a ring. Bye!" She pushed him out into the street.

She then locked the door and ran back upstairs to the safety of her apartment. She felt like she'd just run a mile and her body felt feverish and tense. She quickly finished putting the food away and then made her way to the bathroom for a long shower that would hopefully wash away the strange thoughts that were circling inside her head.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again. It's time to get a good look into Roy's mind on all this. So without further ado...

On with the show...

**Chapter 4**

Roy had been reading the same report for over twenty minutes. He'd finished it in the first five but as long as he looked busy Hawkeye left him alone to day dream. He was considering what to do about Ed. Although she wanted to keep her identity a secret, Roy still believed his crew deserved to know their co-worker was alive.

Not only that, but Havoc had become extremely annoying. Apparently, he'd gotten it into his head to ask the _sexy Edna Elric_ out on a date if she ever came to town. He knew the man meant well but from what he'd seen a few days earlier Ed still clearly acted like a man. Plus Roy doubted dating had ever entered her mind both before and after her transformation.

He felt like such an idiot for how he had acted. He hadn't really thought about it until after Ed had locked him out of her house. He only realized on the walk home that he'd been acting similarly to how he might toward a young single woman. It had just been his natural instincts to help her get settled in for the day. He would have done it for any woman.

He tried to imagine how he might have acted if Ed had come to Central in his previous body. Well...for one he still would have helped him find a place. He had no problem doing reasonable favors for any of his subordinates. Even if they left his command, Roy's staff looked out for each other.

He wouldn't have taken the luggage though or gotten the furniture. He also very much doubted he would have offered to go shopping or pay for that matter. A young man could take care of himself after all. Not that Ed couldn't take care of herself but it was still different. A single woman living alone in a new city was like a four course meal for perverts. She needed to be careful.

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair just as Hawkeye entered the office. She came over and frowned at his slouched posture.

"Sir," she said pulling his attention to her. Roy instantly sat up at the sight of his lieutenant.

He cleared his throat. "Yes Lieutenant Hawkeye," he said as he grabbed the file again and tapped it against the table.

"The crew were looking to start off the weekend with a few drinks down at the bar and were wondering if you would like to join them," Hawkeye informed him. Roy nodded his head.

"I'll think about it," he replied. Not that he didn't mind going out with the men but tonight he had planned on escorting a red-head by the name of Jacqueline.

Hawkeye watched him a few moments before adding. "It seems Havoc also invited the young blonde we met back in Risembol. Evidently, she's been living in Central a few days now and they bumped into each other." Hawkeye watched with a raised eyebrow as her commanding officer stiffened.

"Did he really?" Roy said coolly. Damn that Edward. He was certain she wouldn't have agreed to accompany the second lieutenant if she knew his true motives. "Well I guess I'll go then." He finished reading the report in his hand and signed it quickly before standing up and grabbing his coat. Jacqueline would have to wait for another night.

His crew was overly enthusiastic about Roy joining them on their walk down to the bar. It was a usual spot for the military personnel that worked at Central Headquarters. A short walk from the main gate, it had a large counter and plenty of tables for the men and women clad in blue that frequented it.

After a short while, Havoc left and returned with Ed in tow. Roy groaned into his glass at her state of dress. Good 'ol Fullmetal had opted to wear her typical leather pants. When he was growing into a young man, Roy had often heard the female interns tittering about how sensual Edward looked in leather. Now as a woman, the material slipped over her curves like velvet and hugged her ass in a way that made most of the men in the bar turn head. At least she had put on a plain canvas jacket that covered her breasts.

The rest of the boys greeted her with much the same gusto as they would any of Havoc's dates. But Ed didn't seem to mind. In fact she took it in stride to wiggle her way back into the group with snappy comments and jokes that had Falman commenting on how much Edna acted like her cousins.

Roy sat at the bar and watched as she accepted beer after beer, slowly but surely starting to get sloppier as the alcohol started to take effect. Ed had always been a light weight.

Havoc collapsed down onto the bar stool next to Roy. "Colonel," he slurred out. "You haven't joined in the festivities. Edna's fantastic. She reminds me so much of the boss it's scary, but she's like really hot right?"

Roy looked at Ed who had gotten into an arm wrestling match with Breda, and, to everyone's amazement, was winning. Ed's female body was of the hour-glass variety with perky breasts and an ass to match. Not that Roy had been looking, but Havoc was correct that Ed looked pretty. Beautiful even if he objectified her as just another woman and not his cross-gender ex-subordinate.

Havoc pulled out a cigarette and attempted to light it but his fingers kept slipping on the lighter. He finally gave up and just sat there with the unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. "I think I might ask her back to my place after. You think she'd go for it?"

A snap caused Havoc's cigarette to flare up and burn to ash in moments. The second lieutenant flailed his arms as he jerked in surprise and fell off the stool. He looked up at Roy and all of the alcohol and arousal he had been feeling fled him in a moment. Roy was shaking and he glared down at Havoc like someone might glare at something unpleasant that had dirtied their shoe.

"You are not to touch her. That is an order from not only me but from Alphonse too," Roy told him in a deadly calm that was almost scarier than if he had yelled. Havoc nodded slowly.

Roy looked up to see the rest of his subordinates staring at him in shock, Ed having slipped away. He straightened up and fixed his uniform jacket as he addressed them. "I expect all of you Monday morning. Have a pleasant weekend." He strode away from them to see if he could find Ed. She had had far too much alcohol to be walking home alone.

He spotted her by the bar helping herself to some rum with a man Roy recalled as being part of Hughes old special task force. Ed had shed her jacket in the heat of the crowd and her thin black tank top was doing little to hold in her chest. The man had snaked an arm around her waist, clearly enjoying the view as his eyes kept dipping south to glimpse her cleavage. She giggled at something he had said and rocked into him as she lost her balance. Roy stomped over and glowered at the man whom quickly said good bye to Edward and beat it.

Ed turned to look at Roy with a grin on her face. "Hey Mustaaaang," Ed sang out. "You missed it. Jeff there just told the best joke about a priest and a baseball." She giggled.

"You're leaving," Roy said and placed a few bills on the table to cover her drink before steering her toward the door.

Ed shrugged him off. "Don't be such a party-pooper. I'm fine."

"No you are not," Roy said as his temper started to wane. Why did Ed never just listen to him?! "That man was about ready to grope you and you didn't even realize it."

Ed jut her chin out. "Yeah well if he did, I'd have kicked his ass. Not the first time some creep tried to attack me."

Roy growled and pushed Ed out the door and onto the darkened street. "You just don't get it do you. You are a girl now. You can't just go to a bar dressed like that. You might as well paint a target on your ass." Ed opened his mouth to talk back but Roy bulldozed right over her. "Not only that but Havoc was trying to tap said ass. I bet you came here without even realizing what you coming to a bar with him meant. He thought you two were on a date."

Ed's face lit up red. "I thought he just invited me here as a friend." Ed scowled at Roy. "And the hell is wrong with how I dress? You aren't my commanding officer anymore so fuck off!"

Ed turned to leave, and Roy started to follow her when a hand reached out and touched his arm. He glanced behind him to find Hawkeye giving him a worried look. "How much did you hear?" Roy asked.

She pursed her lips. "Enough to confirm my own suspicions. Ed's not dead is he sir?" Roy shook his head in response. Hawkeye squared up her soldiers. "I'll go after her then. I know you're trying to help Roy, but Ed is going to a need a woman to show her how to be one." She strode past her commanding officer and after Ed's retreating form.

Roy watched her disappear down the road and his body sagged visibly. The hell had he gotten himself into?

Edward was on a rampage as she walked home. She almost wished someone would attack her just so she had a reason to let out all this pent up frustration. Who the hell did Roy Fucking Mustang think he was?! Sure she hadn't realized Havoc's true intentions but so what. It's not like he was the kind of person to push if she had said no. She'd been having such a good time too. It had almost been like she was back in her old body enjoying some R&amp;R with her co-workers after returning home from a mission.

"Son of a bitch!" Ed cried out suddenly, clapped her hands, and transmutated the street light before her into a pile of molten metal. She frowned at the mess before clapping her hands again and turning the metal back into a street light with a few artistic flairs. The act of doing any kind of alchemy took her mind off her anger and helped to calm her down slightly.

"Edward?"

Ed jumped and spun around to see Hawkeye standing there. She looked up at the street light and then at Ed.

"It's Edna actually," Ed said, worried in her drunken haze if she had blown her cover.

"No I think its Edward," Hawkeye reaffirmed. "I had guessed as much back in Risembol, but now I'm certain of it."

Edward glanced around to see if anyone was listening but the sidewalk was deserted. "It's me," she admitted. "Are you mad?"

"No I'm not angry. I'm just surprised." The older woman came up and gave her a good look over. "I was upset when I thought you were dead. Although this is a shock, it's better to know you're alive." She smiled softly. "You're going to have to explain what happened later, but for now I think we should get you home. I know you're mad at Colonel Mustang but he did have a valid point. You make a very pretty girl Ed and you need to be careful. There's a lot of perverts out there."

Edward huffed as she fell in step next to Hawkeye and started to walk toward home. "Like Havoc," she guessed and Hawkeye laughed.

"I think the Second Lieutenant is fairly harmless," she told Ed. "But women shouldn't walk home alone, especially while drunk. Did you know that one of the men accompany me every day? They take turns to make sure I am safely through my front door each evening. It's not because they don't think I could take care of myself if faced with an assailant. It's because walking home alone makes me a target, and they would rather I not have to face an assailant at all."

Edward listened to all of this carefully. It made sense. Maybe she had acted recklessly without realizing it.

"I'm sorry," she said at last. "I guess I caused a lot of trouble for everyone."

"You just have never had to think like this before Ed," Riza said. "It's an unfortunate side effect of being a woman. But don't worry. There are some perks. I think me and Gracia can show you. I know her and Elisia would love to see you again."


	5. Chapter 5

HELLO! :D And now its time to do one of my fav chapters. LET'S GO SHOPPING! I know this might sound a little silly, but I think its about time Ed got some girly stuff. AND NOW...on with the show ;).

Chapter 5

Edward watched Elisia from across the table. She hadn't seen her in a few years and the little girl had grown into a vibrant five year old. Now that she was getting older Ed could see more and more of Maes in Elisia's features. She had her mother's hair and face, but her eyes and smile were definitely her father's. Elisia was currently working on her homework, writing the letter 'E.' She finished and pushed the paper at Ed. "Can you check it for me?" she asked.

Ed smiled and turned the paper so she could read it. "Mmm…this one and this one are backwards…that one needs to be bigger because it's a capital…and the rest look good. Nice job." Ed slid the paper back to her and she furiously erased her mistakes and fixed them.

"Ed."

She stood up when Gracia came into the room, followed by Hawkeye. The lieutenant had been explaining the situation in the other room while Ed kept Elisia company.

"Yeah." Edward stood up and Gracia came over and really seriously looked at her before smiling.

"It's wonderful to see you," she said and reached out to squeeze her shoulders affectionately. "And look at you! You're arms back and Riza said Al's back." She wiped her eye as she started to tear up. "I never knew about what happened with your mother or Al's body. You two went through so much. I'm so glad you're alright."

Edward smiled back sheepishly. "I'm sorry we never told you. Maes knew but the less people aware the safer they'd be. We couldn't put you and Elisia at risk."

"Oh I know," Gracia said and waved her hand at him. "But it seems you need our help now. You helped us so much and I'm happy to return the favor."

Elisia had been watching all of this with interest. "Mommy?" she wondered aloud. She had been a bit too young to remember Ed or Al clearly. She remembered the Big Metal Man and his brother who were her friends.

"Honey is your homework done?" Gracia asked and Elisia held up the paper. "Wonderful job sweety. Do you think you could give the grown-ups some time to talk? Why don't you go work on your painting?" The little girl nodded and skipped out of the kitchen.

"Painting?" Ed asked as she, Riza, and Gracia took a seat at the table.

"Elisia has quite a talent. She's been drawing since she could hold a crayon so I bought her a child's easel. She made that one." Gracia nodded to the picture on the fridge showing her and her mother. It was very well done for a five year old. The older woman steered the conversation back towards Edward. "So what is it we can help you with Ed?"

"I guess," Edward floundered a bit in her chair. "I need to learn how to be a woman. I've lived my whole life as a man after all. There's the obvious physical differences, but I guess there's a lot of other things too."

"I think I understand what you're talking about," Gracia said. "But I don't think we can just explain it to you. I think you need to experience how to be a woman. So how about instead we do something?"

"We could go dress shopping," Riza suggested. "You don't have many clothes do you Ed."

Edward was not one for that idea. The last couple times she'd been shopping with Winry, she'd been left carrying the bags and being decidedly bored. "I don't know," she whined. But Riza and Gracia were already grabbing their purses. "I'll go and get Elisia," Gracia said as she slipped from the room.

"I don't get how shopping is going to teach me how to be a woman," Edward huffed. "It just seems silly."

"Trust us Ed," Riza encouraged.

The shopping plaza in Central was packed with a multitude of people. There were some men and couples, but, Ed noted, the majority of the shoppers were women. Especially women in groups. While the solitary men got what they needed got the hell out, women perused and traveled in packs.

"Before you do anything, we need to get you a purse," Riza explained as they headed for a shoe and purse shop.

"Why?" Ed scoffed as she looked at the bags that Riza and Gracia carried. Even Elisia was toting a tiny pink purse that held a few coins and a hairbrush. The women looked at her with blank expressions for a moment.

"Well for one," Riza finally started to explain. "Women carry a lot more things than men." She opened her own purse for Ed to see. She had a brush, pen, pad of paper, tissues, lipstick, wallet, feminine products, and a whole host of other things tucked away in various pockets. "Men bring the bare necessities. Women are prepared for anything. Not to mention when a man does need something, he'll usually turn to a woman to see if she has it."

"Uh…right. So I need a purse with everything in it," Ed said already floundering in this new world she'd somehow found herself. "And I can't use my pockets because."

"Ed have you seen women's fashion?" Gracia asked. "We wear dresses, skirts, and tight pants with tiny little pockets that can barely hold a few coins. Women's clothing isn't designed to carry anything."

"Well that's stupid," Ed commented, but resignedly went into the shop and purchased a bag. It was a simple red leather one that reminded her of her coat. And next were shoes because "You can't possibly only have one pair. And boots at that." Apparently women needed to have a whole host of footwear for different occasions. So to stock up she got a pair of sandals, some green flats, and a simple pair of pumps. The pumps were about the only thing she did like because they added a good four inches to her height. The only issue had been finding shoes that fit her left automail leg.

Despite her reservations, Ed was starting to have a little bit of fun. It seemed the stores knew their audience and there were far more choices for women to choose from. Not only that but buying some new things made her feel good for a reason she couldn't quite explain.

Next they moved to a dress shop. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Ed to wear one dress, but Gracia insisted that all women should have two: one for formal occasions and one for more casual occasions.

"I look like a cupcake," Ed grumbled as the sales lady brought her out in a little summer dress. It was navy blue and ended at her knee with a pretty white rose pattern covering the material.

"No you look precious," the sales lady gushed and spun Ed around to look at herself in the mirror. "I think the blue looks wonderful with your hair. It compliments your natural features." Ed knew it was just a sales pitch but she had to admit the lady knew what she was talking about. She tilted her head to the side. Was that really her?

She was used to seeing her new female body in her typical male clothes, so the transformation wasn't as extreme. But dressed up like this her curves and breasts were amplified. The person in the mirror looked like a pretty mirage that miraculously shifted with her. She couldn't possibly look like that? Right? "I think I want to try another one on now," she said suddenly getting nervous at the sight of her own reflection.

The more formal dress was red. Riza thought that it would look the best on Ed. "A red dress on a woman is sexy. Black is formal. White is pure. Bright patterns are flamboyant," she explained. "People can pick up on this whether or not you want them too."

Gracia chimed in. "Oh yes. And don't forget when you sit with a dress you need to keep your legs together." She gestured to how she was sitting at that moment in her simple purple skirt.

"Don't I do that now?" Ed asked as she tried to remember which color meant which. This was getting complicated.

"No," Riza said. "You sit like a man with your legs open. When a woman does it, it seems vulgar."

"Ooo," Elisia cooed when Ed stepped out of the dressing room with the long formal dress on. It was sleeveless with a v-neck and a mermaid bottom that flared out around her. "You look preeeeetty."

"What am I going to even wear this too?" Ed said a bit exasperated. She felt like she was being squeezed around the middle.

"It's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it," Gracia quoted as she came around and checked the fit.

They finally left with the dresses. Ed thought that would be it for the day, but Elisia wanted to go look at makeup. She was too young to wear it, but she told Ed that it was still fun to look. She grabbed Ed's hand and pulled her into the shop where she was immediately assaulted by sales assistants. They held out bottles, creams, and powders that seemed to do everything from make her young forever to make any man she desired fall for her.

"Nope!" Ed said and tried to make a break for it. "Shoes, purse, and dresses. Fine. Make-up. Hell No!" Riza caught her collar and dragged her back into the shop. "I almost never wear make-up and I still have lipstick." After a half hour, Ed finally managed to escape, but only after having procured two lipstick. She looked at the metal capsules in her new purse and sighed.

"I still don't understand what this has to do with being a woman," she grumbled.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense now, but it will," Gracia said. "What we need is an event you can wear some of this too." She pursed her lips as she thought. "Oh! Riza isn't the Military Ball coming up soon."

"No!" Ed said, holding up her hands. "Absolutely not!"

"I'll be perfect. You can wear the heels and the red dress. We'll just need one of the men to take you since you're no longer enlisted," Riza insisted as they started the walk back to Gracia's home together, Elisia skipped along ahead of them swinging her tiny purse around as she did. "Not Havoc. He'd see it as another date and a c'mon to keep pursuing you."

Ed made a face. "Yeah no thanks. I like Havoc as a friend. The end. And I don't want any other man taking me on a date," she said. "Besides I like women."

Gracia raised an eyebrow at this. "Yes. I would think you would, but have you really considered it since you made the change," she asked.

Ed paused. Her sexuality had never been an issue she had to ponder. She'd never had a relationship or sex or anything like that. The most he'd ever done was kiss Winry on a dare when they were kids. He'd liked it. But as Winry had explained, once she became a girl the feelings towards her friend had become neutral.

She'd always felt rather asexual in general because there had never been time to explore her sexuality. There was always a mission, always a quest, always something to do. Not to mention that any kind of sexual gratification had made her feel guilty with her brother in a body where he couldn't feel anything.

Did she like men or women now?

"I don't know. I guess I'm okay with both if I'm really honest with myself," Ed said finally.

Riza nodded. "Well at any rate, I think the only person who can take you to the ball is Roy. He's the only one that knows who you really are," she said.

"Why can't you take me!?" Ed pleaded. "We can just go as friends. Please." Riza laughed. "No Edward. The Military Ball is far too formal for civilians to go as 'just friends.' Besides Fuery already asked me to accompany him."

"But why does it have to be Mustang?" Edward said and made a face.

"Because he's the only one that won't try anything," Riza explained. "He won't see it as a date if we explain everything to him. Just trust us."

Edward rubbed her eyes and tried to imagine herself in a dress with Roy Mustang looking like a penguin beside her. She just didn't see it. It was too weird. "Do I have to?" Edward moaned in one last fleeting attempt at escape.

"Yes," Riza and Gracia said together with such stern stares that she didn't dare argue again.


	6. Chapter 6

Koncha ladies and gents. Sorry I've been absent. I had to get ready for Anime Boston. Me, my sister and my friend went as characters from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (I was Ventus) and I had to beast on my cosplay to get it ready in time. And then when I got back I had to beast at work to get all the spring cleaning done before the health inspector came (I work at a bakery decorating cakes). And then I had to beast at home to get the bathroom painted. And then I beasted on this chapter cause I'm like lol I haven't updated in a month. And I'm just a major beast who hasn't had a day to write in awhile.

Now on with the show...

Chapter 6

Roy really wished Riza had consulted him before inviting Fullmetal to the Military Ball. He'd had to cancel his evening with the red-head Susana from the Central Security Department. She was a vibrant young woman with a wicked tongue, and acted crushed Roy couldn't escort her until about five more suitors knocked on the door. Her easy dismissal still burned slightly.

Not that he minded terribly about taking Edward to the Ball. Riza had been adamant about it being necessary for Ed to adjust to her new life. He just hoped she was on her best behavior since the Military Ball, while a social gathering, was also a political arena.

He'd borrowed one of the military cars to pick up Ed, and pulled up to park in front of Gracia's house. He felt a weight sink into his gut. Well the sooner they could get this night over with, the better.

Roy walked to the front door and knocked. Elisia answered and she smiled up at him. "Hi Uncle Roy. Mama is upstairs with Ed," she said and shut the door behind him. She raced over to the stairs and called up, "He's here!"

Roy put his hands in his pockets as he waited in the foyer. It always felt awkward being in this house without his best friend popping up to clap him on the shoulder. What would Hughes think of Roy bringing Ed to the Military Ball? He'd probably be thrilled.

"And here she is," Gracia hailed as she led Ed down the stairs.

Roy gapped at the figure before him. He hadn't expected her to look so…well…amazing. Dressed in her old male outfits the change wasn't as noticeable, but the moment she descended the stairs the truth of Ed's gender hit him like a punch to the gut. The dress hugged her figure like a glove, elongating her legs and swooping low to show off her breasts. Her hair was spilling down around her shoulders and seemed to make her face glow and drew you into her brilliant golden eyes that burned like the sun. And fire was Roy's element, so the smoldering gaze pulled him right in before he had a chance to register what was going on.

She was tipsy in her heels and clutched Gracia and the railing for dear life. It was so endearing that Roy found himself walking over to assist her the last few steps. Once she had steadied herself, Ed gave Roy a once over.

He was wearing a dark navy blue suit with a white undershirt and black tie. It was different, but Ed decided it didn't make him look like a penguin. It made him appear dashing and outlined the natural lines of his taller muscular physic. She noticed he was staring at her and shifted uncomfortably.

"Does it look stupid?" she asked and glanced down at herself.

"No," Roy said quickly. "Uh…you uh…you look very nice."

"Good," Ed exhaled, feeling a tad better that she didn't look like a complete idiot. She might not be the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore, but Edna Elric still had her pride.

Roy offered her his arm but she ignored it. "Thanks Gracia," she called to the woman as she headed for the door and opened it. "And Elisia you too for helping." She walked to the car and Roy was right behind her. He opened the car door and she paused in her steps.

"Okay," Ed sighed, tapping her toe. "Roy. You know who I really am. So please. No opening doors or dancing or weird stuff okay. I'm doing this more for Gracia and Riza. They're trying to teach me how to be a girl, and I'm giving it my best effort but don't make this anymore awkward."

Roy looked at the door a moment and then at Ed. He hadn't even realized what he was doing. "I was just…trying to be a gentlemen Ed," Roy said and paused in thought. "You said this was to teach you how to be a lady right? Well…part of that is letting gentlemen…dote on you." He blushed at the last part and Ed laughed out loud at the sight. She couldn't remember ever seeing Colonel Roy Mustang, The Flame Alchemist blush like a school boy. It calmed her nerves enough for her to slip into the car.

"Well if you doing things for me will teach me how to be a woman then fine," Ed snorted as Roy closed the door and went around to the driver's side door. "But no dancing."

"Well we need to dance at least once," Roy reasoned as he got in and started the car down the road.

"And why is that?" Ed asked as she wiggled to get comfortable. "How on earth do women wear these things? Heels suck." She let out a deep groan. "Listen Roy, I can barely walk and with my automail dancing is just not in the cards."

Roy drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Now that he was over the initial shock, he was starting to get nervous. He wanted to slap himself. "Well how about you slip the heels off when no one is looking and just do one dance with me," he offered. "It's important Ed."

"Why is it so important?" Ed argued. "I mean there's going to be lots of people there can't you just ask someone else to dance with you."

"Because," Roy explained. "There is a dance about halfway through the night that involves all officers dancing with their dates. It would be seen as inappropriate to refuse in front of my superiors. After that we can leave if you want. I was planning on slipping out early anyway." He would need to leave after a dance with Ed. If he was this jittery just sitting next to her in the car than doing an intimate thing like dance would…

"Roy…" Ed waved her hand in front of his face. "You need me to drive?"

"No no…what was that you said."

"I said fine," she reiterated. "One dance." Ed rolled her eyes. Stupid military and their ridiculous standards. She was technically dead and it was still trying to tell her what to do.

The Ball was being held at the Augustina Hall in downtown Central. It was a three story brick building that was over two-hundred years old and was adorned with buttresses, large ornate windows, and balconies. The grand stoop in front was littered with various military personal and visiting dignitary as they entered the large ballroom inside.

"Wow," Ed said softly as Roy stopped out front. "I didn't realize there would be so many people here." She yanked on her dress a bit. Would anyone recognize her as Edward Elric? What if they did and she got laughed at? What if she did and got dragged off to some military lab? She suddenly wished she was back in Risembol with Alphonse.

While she was worrying, Roy had gotten out and handed the keys to the valet. He opened Ed's door and held out his hand. Ed grimaced and, feeling like moron, let Roy help her out of the car and up the stairs. She stiffened as heads kept swiveling to look at them. "Do you think they know who I am?" Ed hissed at Roy.

"No Ed," Roy said with a little smile.

"Then why…" Ed paused when she saw Roy looking at her. His face was calm and warm. It was a burning blaze, intelligent curiosity, and a fondness that caused Ed's breath to catch. She felt her cheeks flare and her stomach roll. "Why are _you_ looking at me like that?"

Roy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Looking at you how?"

"There you are!" Riza called and waved from where she was standing arm in arm with an enthralled looked Furey. The young man looked to be astounded to be standing next to Hawkeye who was dressed in an elegant blue gown that shifted to a purplish hue as she moved.

"Havoc, Breda, and their dates are over there at our table," she explained as they neared. "Ed you look lovely," she complimented with a little wink before they both glanced at Furey. Ed had to revert back to citizen Edna Elric.

"I remember you from the bar. Your name is Furey right?" Ed said and the younger man nodded.

"It's good to see you again Edna," he smiled and then added jokingly. "Havocs going to be mad the Colonel got another girl he was after."

Ed stiffened and then forced a smile. "And who's to say the Colonel has got me?" She gave Roy a look that said yeah-fucking-right.

They made their way over to the table where the others greeted them. Ed found her seat next to Roy where a place card read 'Colonel Roy Mustang Guest.' She groaned internally when she saw that on the other side of her seat was Havoc. Great. Just what she needed. To be stuck between a man who had been trying to get in her pants and a man whom everyone was thinking wanted to get into her pants. And the more ironic part was she wasn't even wearing pants.

"Hi," Ed said stiffly. She'd never felt so awkward near the second lieutenant.

"Hi," Havoc returned neutrally. "So…you came with the colonel huh?"

"Yeah. Riza and Gracia set us up," Ed said.

"Really?!" the other man looked over at Roy with surprise. "Didn't know you were getting outside help with your dates?"

"I don't get help," Roy shot back as he sat down and glanced over at Havoc's date, a dark xingian woman with a heavy amount of make-up on. She was chatting with Breda who looked quite taken with her and was stumbling through a few phrases in Xing he knew. "Are you going to introduce your date?" Roy asked.

"Tachi," Havoc said to get the woman's attention and she turned and smiled. "Ah…more friends. Nice to meet you," she greeted in a heavy accent.

"Oai dekite ureshii desu," Ed greeted. "Watashi wa Edna Elric desu."

Everyone at the table gapped at Edward, and the woman scooted around Havoc and gushed, "Kokode rokkagetsu hataraiteimasu. Anata ichinin wa xing ga hanashimasu." The two women began chatting adamantly to each other in fluent Xing, leaving both their dates staring.

The talking ended though as the Fuhrer stepped up to the microphone and the Ball quieted. There was a brief speech thanking everyone for coming, and some boring political talk that Ed tuned out. Then the speech shifted and the friendly aura disappeared from the man up on stage.

"As many of you have heard. There are recent rumors that certain military divisions will be shrinking. I am here to put those rumors to rest. They are true. I'm not suggesting that you will be losing your positions but many of you will be reassigned, and many more moved from active duty."

There was a clamor as much of the hall broke out in hushed urgent whispers and Roy noticed several generals up on the stage gave their leader a less then friendly look. The Fuhrer wished them all a pleasant evening and signaled for the musicians to commence.

"This is not good," Riza said seriously. Most of the guests were looking at each other anxiously and had risen to form tight little gossip circles.

"This is only the beginning I'm sure," Roy said and stood up from his chair. "Excuse me." Roy headed off towards a group of Lieutenant Colonels who had grouped together to discuss the Fuhrer's announcement.

"_Your date seems tense," _Tachi commented to Ed in Xing.

_"They're worried," _Ed told her. _"This is their jobs the Fuhrer is talking about. Not only that, but Drachma is still trying to force their way south. It's a dangerous game the Fuhrer is playing." _

_"Dangerous yes,"_ Tachi agreed. _"But not altogether unpopular."_ The woman gestured one of her petite hands at the head table where some of the generals and Fuhrer's head of staff were shaking his hand and talking adamantly. Among them was an older man with a large ruddy beard that seemed like bear. He stood out as the only one who wasn't smiling, but he seemed to speak in harsh rough whispers to a woman standing next to him.

Food was brought out and the talking stopped as the attendees enjoyed the expensive spread of sliced roast beef, shrimp, and rigatoni. Ed collected a large plate and set it up on the table. Roy sat down next to her and eyed the spread. "I can see the announcement hasn't robbed you of your appetite." Ed snorted and took a large bite of potato. "What will happen will happen whether or not I have a full stomach," she responded.

"Which divisions do you think they're targeting?" Breda asked.

Roy shook his head. "I have my theories, as do the others, but now is not the time or place to discuss it. We'll work on it tomorrow morning in the office."

Ed pursed her lips. It was times like this she missed being a part of Roy's staff. As _citizen_ Edna, she had about as much a right to this conversation as Tachi.

"The dance is going to start soon," Roy said as the feast wound down to an end and many of the officers and their dates flooded the dance floor. Ed wiggled off her heels underneath the table. They were pinching and she let out a little sigh of relief as her flesh foot lay flat again. She frowned up at Roy's offered hand and let him help her stand up and lead her over.

"This feels so stupid," Ed whispered. A few of the men were giving her long looks and her earlier fear of being recognized came back ten-fold. "And they're all looking at me again. Are you sure I don't look stupid. You can be honest with me."

Roy gave a little smirk and put his arm around her waist and his hand in hers. "Put your hand on my shoulder and follow my lead," he instructed. She suddenly realized just how close they were. It was odd feeling his body heat so close to hers and suddenly the clothing they were wearing felt confining. "I don't think you realize just how you look," Roy said to Ed.

"And how is that?" Ed wondered as her heart started to speed up for no good reason.

The music began and Roy started to spin them around the room slowly. Ed had danced before but not in the woman's role. It took a few steps before she managed to find the rhythm. She noticed Roy looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well…how is it I look?" Ed repeated her question.

Roy cleared his throat. "Since when have you spoken Xing."

Ed ignored the obvious change of subject. "I learned on the train with Alphonse," she explained. "We got some books on the subject and practiced. We learned a bit of Drachman too. Figured with traveling everywhere it would be useful."

Roy shook his head. "Only you and Alphonse could learn two languages on your own and speak them to someone who's fluent."

The music was rolling to an end and Ed found herself and Roy standing in the middle of the dance floor. Roy was still holding her close and Ed felt his hand tighten on her waist. "Roy. The dance is over," Ed told him, and almost instantly the man pulled back.

"Hmm…right," Roy said briskly.

"Are you alright?" Ed asked.

"Yes…I'm…" He noticed several of the officers watching them now that the dance was over. They had to be careful not to be overheard. Already they had said too much in a public venue. "Let's continue this out on the balcony," Roy said and steered Ed towards one of the many doors that were flung open.

"Colonel Mustang." They were intercepted as the large bearded man Ed had spotted earlier bodily blocked their way.

"Ah. Ambassador Olan Harbring," Roy greeted formally.

"A strange announcement," the older man said. "I hope this won't put any strain on our treaties."

"It's not really my place to say," Roy said stiffly.

"Yes. I suppose it's not," the ambassador agreed. His gaze turned down on Ed and she squared her shoulders against his gaze, inadvertently pushing out her chest. "Is this your wife?"

Ed balked and opened her mouth, but Roy cut in, "No…no this is my date, Edna Elric. A friend."

"And what does your friend do?" Harbring asked.

"I am an alchemist," Ed said, tired of being talked about as if she wasn't there. "And I own my own shop. I'm opening it soon."

The man balked in laughter and Ed's eyes narrowed dangerously. "A fine pretty young alchemist you'll be. What do you do? Fix ladies clothes and bake cookies with transmutation circles."

Ed opened her mouth to tell the man off, but Roy squeezed her wrist painfully and dragged her around Harbring towards the balcony. "Something like that," Roy said. "It was good speaking with you ambassador." He then pushed Ed out the doors as the man continued to laugh and walked away.

Ed broke away from Roy. "Let me go. I'm going to go give that asshole a piece of my mind," she snapped. "I'll pretty little alchemist his ass right into a wall."

"Leave it alone Ed," Roy said and closed the doors to seal off the balcony. "Olan Harbring is the ambassador of Drachma. He's here as a guest of the Fuhrer, and can pretty much say and do whatever he wants. From what the other Colonels and I were discussing, he's a major reason why they announced the military was liquidating several of its divisions." He took Ed's hand and led her to the edge of the balcony. "In Drachma women are second class citizens, so don't take it personally."

Ed pursed her lips. "Well its bullshit. All this women can't be alchemists. I'm going to be the best damn alchemist in the city and then they can all piss off." Her rage was starting to subside. "I know tonight was all about learning to be a woman, but I don't feel like I've learned anything, just that there are a lot of pricks in the world who stare at you a lot." She lifted up her skirt to look down at her automail leg. "At least the dress hides this."

"Yes…men will stare at a beautiful woman," Roy agreed and leaned on the balcony to look out over the city. Up high like this the darkness made the buildings look like a sea of different colored starlight. Each window voiced its own little ray to the night and the music of the ball filtered out to mix with the rumble of cars and chattering of couples down on the ground below.

Ed stared at him a moment before coming over to join him on the railing. She felt strange. As if they were both laid bare with no titles or constrictions. Just her and Roy alone being wholly themselves.

"I look beautiful?" Ed said disbelievingly.

"Yes you do," Roy repeated and he refused to look at Ed, instead focusing on his hands, rubbing his gloves slowly on the marble railing. Ed wasn't sure what to say to that. It was flattering she supposed, although she'd never thought of herself as beautiful. As a man she'd been called handsome a few times, and people kept telling her she was a pretty woman. But pretty and beautiful were two very different things.

"Thanks," Ed said slowly. "You look um… very handsome yourself." She tried to diffuse some of the tension by adding, "You know for a Bastard Colonel."

"Thanks," Roy returned. "Hey Ed. I know you said you only wanted to do one dance, but could we do just one more. We can do it out here."

Ed tried to figure out if he had any other alternative reason for wanting to, but seeing only honesty she nodded and agreed. "Alright. Can I ask why?"

"Well it is a ball after all," Roy said. "And I want to dance with my date."

Ed allowed Roy to pull her back close to him on the balcony.

They didn't talk, just moved around in a simple waltz not really paying much attention to the music coming in through the closed doors. Instead they danced to their own internal rhythm and Ed felt herself grow hot as Roy scrutinized her. It was almost like he was studying her, trying to figure something out, but every time he got close his eyes would drop to where they were pressed flush against each other.

She shivered and blamed it on the cool night air despite the fact she was sweating like mad. What the hell was wrong with her? "What are you thinking?" Ed finally asked trying to break the tension, but to her surprise her voice came out in a timid whisper. She cleared her throat and repeated in a forcefully normal tone. "What are you thinking Roy?"

"Ed…you really are beautiful. Beautiful and smart and strong," Roy murmured. They had stopped dancing and were just standing there. Ed couldn't seem to push away.

"Roy what are you talking about?" she asked, "You're acting…weird." She looked up at his eyes and felt her breath leave her. Had Roy always had such a piercing gaze? He was smiling softly but at the edges you could see a foreign nervousness.

He leaned down and Ed thought for a brief flash of panic that he was going to try and kiss her. Suddenly he jerked away, and let her go. Ed felt his absence of heat like a slap in the face and she panted as if she'd just run a race.

"We should go," Roy said.

"Yeah…let's go," Ed agreed quickly, neither of them daring to mention what had transpired.

* * *

"Oai dekite ureshii desu," Ed greeted. "Watashi wa Edna Elric desu."  
_"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ed greeted. "I'm Edna Elric." _

"Kokode rokkagetsu hataraiteimasu. Anata ichinin wa xing ga hanashimasu."  
_"I've worked here 6 months and you are the first person to speak Xing."_

(sorry if I screwed up the japanese for any native speakers ごめんなさい. 我慢してください.)


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys. So this chapter is kindda slow after our crazy busy last chapter. Think of it as the lull before the storm since things are really going to start heating up after this.

Enjoy and on with the show!

Chapter 7

Roy hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the night before. After dropping, Ed off at her apartment he'd gone home and drunk a fifth of whiskey.

What was wrong with him!?

This wasn't just some pretty face. This was Edward Elric! The man turned woman. His ex-subordinate who was half his age and barely nineteen-years-old.

But her body, her charisma, her voice, everything had sung to him. He felt like a sailor being pulled in by the call of a siren, helpless to deny. He really shouldn't have asked for a second dance. That had been a mistake. He had felt her body humming with the same anxiety and before he'd known it he was rambling and leaning down. Then he'd seen the sheer panic in her eyes and had yanked away just in time.

After all it was EDWARD ELRIC he'd almost kissed. Oh and he'd wanted to kiss her. His body had been completely gun-ho until his brain had finally kicked in and told him to abort.

"You look like hell," Riza said in her usual monotone as she dropped the usual stack of papers and cup of coffee on his desk that morning. "So how did it go with Edward. You guys disappeared after the officers' dance and I was worried."

"We just ran into Olan Harbring whom said some pretty sexist things," Roy told her. "I brought Ed home shortly after since she seemed so upset."

"That still doesn't explain why you look like hell," Riza reiterated and pressed her hand to his forehead and leaned down to look into his eyes. "No fever."

Roy furrowed his brow at her. Riza was a beautiful woman after all and he'd known her for longer than Edward. Before Ishval, he'd entertained the idea of them getting married someday. But her closeness, the hand on his forehead, he didn't feel anything. It was just Ed he reacted to.

"Riza why did you insist I take Ed to the dance last night?" Roy asked her as she straightened back up.

"I already told you. Me and Gracia thought a night out would help Ed start to feel more like a woman," Riza explained. "She always dresses like a man, talks like a man, acts like a man. I know it sounds wrong but she needs to be forced into situations specific to her new gender. I of all people know what it's like to work a man's job, but that doesn't mean I'm not a girl." She huffed. "It'd be too hard to explain to a guy."

"I think I understand a little," Roy said. "A formal dance party forces her to dress and act like a woman. Correct?"

"Right," Riza said.

"And being with a man had nothing to do with it?" Roy wondered.

Riza stared at him a moment and then slowly reached for her gun. "Roy what did you do?"

Roy jumped from his chair and took a few steps back. "Riza don't misunderstand. I didn't do anything."

"Roy," Riza warned as she pulled her gun from her holster. "I trusted you with her and god help you if you touched her. What did you do?"

"I…I almost kissed her," Roy admitted. He heard the click of the gun being cocked. "But I stopped. I didn't do anything. We just danced and then talked and I dropped her off and went home." He let his hands fall in defeat. "And then I drank myself into a coma."

Riza had half a mind to shoot the asshole, but seeing the guilt and confusion she relented and holstered her weapon. "When I said she needed to learn how to be woman I didn't mean THAT. For god's sake Roy, I don't think she even did that as a man."

"I know… I know." Roy sunk into his chair. "I just don't know what to do Riza. She was just…I don't even know how to describe it. I couldn't help myself."

Riza sighed and sat down on the couch in the office. "And here I thought you'd be the last person…" She glanced at Roy and felt a small twang of pity. She'd never seen him so strung out before, and over a woman at that. "Well I'll ask you this. When Ed was a boy, did you ever think like this?"

"No," Roy said with certainty. "I saw Edward as a subordinate."

"You pulled a lot of strings to get him into the military at that age. Kept his and Al's secret. Sent them on specific missions you thought would aid them," Riza reminded him. "Why?"

Roy thought back to the first he'd seen Ed, a child, having just lost two limbs and his brother's body. He remembered the empty stare that had glanced up at him. It was the exact same face he'd worn for two years after Ishval until Hughes had finally dragged his ass out of the darkness and set him on his current path. Roy had been simply paying it forward. Ed had been too young to wear that face, and Roy had done everything he could to put life back into it.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his gloved fingers through his hair. "I saw potential in him. He'd done the impossible at a very young age, and he'd continued to do the impossible no matter what was thrown at him."

"And now?" Riza probed.

"I still see the same potential."

"And something else," Riza sighed. "Well at least you didn't do anything." She stood up from the couch and handed him one last folder in her possession. "In any case sir we have larger issues to worry about," she said, professionalism slipping back into her demeanor.

Roy opened the folder and his eyes widened in surprise. "They can't be serious." He flipped through the papers and his hands clenched. "Of all the divisions that they would shut down, I thought the state alchemists would be the last."

* * *

After scrubbing herself clean and changing into a comfy pair of flannels, Ed had crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling until the wee hours of the morning when she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

She'd gotten up that afternoon and stared at her reflection angrily in the bathroom. Her hair had flattened into her face, her eyes glazed over, and the white t-shirt she had on was wrinkled and bunched around her chest. What was so beautiful? She'd grown a pair of boobs and exchanged her penis for a vagina. What was the big deal? She was still the same person.

So then why wouldn't her brain shut up? His scent, his hands, his voice. It was driving her crazy. She was going to go insane.

Ed had finally given up trying to figure it out and gotten dressed before heading downstairs to the shop. The last few weeks she'd been renovating in hopes of opening before autumn. She'd painted the walls a nice light green that reminded her of the hills in Risembol, and reorganized most of the shelving. The basement had been the hardest part. It seemed the previous owner had left a lot of boxes and Ed had been going through them, dusting as she went. Most was junk but she'd found an old cash register, some glass display cases, vases, and a stock of candles labeled Lemon Surprise.

The phone had rung halfway through dumping an old box of receipts and Edward was ecstatic to hear Alphonse voice.

"So how are things going?" Al asked after their initial hellos.

"Good. Just getting everything organized. I'm still not sure about what to sell. I've been going around to other alchemy stores to see how they have them set up, and most have a specialty. Like one works on cars and another does home repair," Edward said. "I just haven't figured out what my draw is going to be. Anyway, how are things back in Risembol?"

"Well I have my shop all set up. I'm just promoting I'm-an-alchemist-and-can-fix-your-things," Alphonse said. "Of course I'm the only alchemist here so I don't have any competition."

"Yeah well I guess alchemy is a hard field to break into if you're a girl. Most of the people I talk to think I'm kidding," Ed said not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice. "They won't be laughing when I put them out of business."

"How is that all going by the way? You said Riza and Gracia started helping you."

"Yeah and you wouldn't believe what I did last night," Ed said trying to keep her voice light.

"What?"

"I went to the Military Ball…in a dress…with Colonel Bastard." He tensed for the laughter he was sure he would hear on the other end of the phone. But when none came he added, "Funny right?"

"Uh…yeah. That's a little weird," Alphonse answered awkwardly. "How did it go?"

"Okay," Ed said. "I met a new friend. Her name is Tachi. She works in the Xingian embassy here and we exchanged information last night. She's gonna come see the shop when I got it fully up and running."

"That's great," Al commented. "And how did things go with Colonel Mustang."

"Okay," Ed said softly.

After a few moments of silence Al encouraged, "And…"

Ed sighed. "I don't know," Ed admitted. "It was Mustang. We danced, we talked, and then we went home."

"If that's all you did then why are you skirting the issue," Al pressed. Edward winced. Damn her brother for being able to read her like a book. "Did he do something weird?" She could hear the worry tones in his voice.

"No nothing weird…he uh…he said I looked beautiful," Ed admitted. "And said a lot of other stuff about me being smart and strong."

"He WHAT?!" Ed yanked the phone away from her head at the outburst. Alphonse continued, "Ed it sounds like he likes you."

"Well of course he likes me," Ed reasoned. "We're friends."

"I mean likes you like how I like Winry," Alphonse confirmed.

"How's that going by the way?" Ed asked desperate to deviate the attention away from her.

"Don't change the subject," Al scolded. "And good. We went on a date to a restaurant, and she seemed pretty happy about it."

"Alphonse that's great," Ed said.

"Yeah I'm really happy about it," his brother said and you could hear the shy smile in his voice. "Do you think about the Colonel like that at all?"

"NO! No. Absolutely not," Ed told him, although, a little voice in the back of his head whispered 'liar.'

"Well just be careful Ed. The Colonel is a good person, but I don't want you getting hurt," Alphonse cautioned. "Maybe I'll come visit you soon and we can talk about it more." She heard him chuckle. "Gotta protect my sister after all. Man that sounds weird."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "But then we've always specialized in weird."


	8. Chapter 8

I had a little bit of a mental block with this chapter and it really came out a little BLAH, but I can't bear to fiddle with it anymore. I ended up going my cousins wedding in washington d.c. over memorial day and on the ride I managed to bang it out with much difficulty. I don't know if it was my cold, or the stress of travel, or maybe the fact that my sister was like BE GIRLY WITH ME! and my inner tomboy was screaming in pain as I got a mani-pedicure. Not that its not pretty but at the same time I'm like "$50 to put paint on keratin? That seems excessive." And then we got to the wedding and I felt like such a shrub. Put it this way, I'm 5'8" (173 cm) and I am the shortest of all my cousins, girl and boy, and then the girls wear 5" heels and walk around like real life amazon barbies with hourglass figures and natural blonde hair. And I'm standing in my homemade dress and flats like "so this is what Ed feels like." So yeah. Now that I'm done ranting on with the show.

Chapter 8

"I cannot BELIEVE this," Edward said appalled. Riza had come by the shop after work bringing with her the latest piece of news. "How can they possibly justify closing down the state alchemist division?"

"They say it's become unsafe," Riza explained. "In a way they're right. Remember Shou Tucker? Not to mention the many other alchemists who used state money to fund illegal experiments."

Edward scowled at Tucker's name. Oh she knew only too well the horrors his alchemy had wrought. "You don't have to tell me," she reminded Riza. "Who do you think cleaned up the majority of those messes? But dissolving the division isn't going to solve the problem. It'll only exacerbate it. Who'll stop the crazy alchemists if there are no state alchemists?"

"And that is exactly the question Roy brought up at today's meeting," Riza explained. "You should have seen it Ed, I really thought some of the generals were considering civil war if the Fuhrer didn't recant."

"But they're still going to do it?" Ed asked amazed.

Riza nodded. "Harbring has already announced that this is one of the clauses of the new peace treaty. In exchange, the Drachmans are agreeing to bring both their and our scientists together to collaborate. They're hoping to start moving away from using alchemists as weapons and start using alchemy to create weapons."

"Well that sounds wonderful," Edward huffed sarcastically. "And if we have peace why do we need weapons in the first place?" The teapot sitting on the stove started to whistle and Ed got up to retrieve several mugs for her and Hawkeye. "So what's going to happen to Roy and the other state alchemists?"

"They'll keep their titles, but they've already started collecting watches. Roy's been ordered to stop wearing his gloves at work too," Riza explained before taking a sip of the cup Ed offered her. "Since Roy is a Colonel he'll continue his job as such, but other lower level alchemists are being assigned to laboratories."

"Sounds like they're cooking up something big," Ed said softly. She glared down at the tea slowly revolving in her mug. "It almost makes me wish I was still enlisted so I could do something."

"Actually," Riza said. "The Colonel did ask me to give this to you." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and pushed it across the table to Ed. She unfolded it and frowned at the alchemy circle on it.

"What is it?"

"We're not sure. Falman managed to smuggle it out of a top-secret folder linked to this new lab Harbring wants to build with the Fuhrer's assistance," Riza explained.

Ed sat down and looked the circle over. It was oddly familiar yet the designs near the edge seemed like a foreign language. The symbols for the five elements and the human body were all written into the design, and the flow of energy looped around each as if drawing from them like a tap. But there was no release. It was like the circle was made just to create energy with no transmutation to release it.

"I'll work on it," Ed said her old solider side kicking in as she was handed a new mission.

Ed was delving into the snare of alchemy when they were interrupted by a jingle of the doorbell downstairs. Seeing as Ed was already a thousand miles away, Riza stood up and went downstairs to answer. She hesitated when she saw the colonel standing outside the shop window. He was still in his uniform and were those…flowers?!

"Sir?" Hawkeye wondered as she stepped outside the door and joined him on the street. "If you were coming to see Ed why did you give me that 'letter?'" she asked, using code to refer to the alchemy circle.

"Well I didn't think I was coming myself," Roy said as he stared down at the flowers helplessly. He'd wandered by the florist on the way home and had inadvertently bought them, not even knowing how he could give them to Ed or if he should give them to her. "Maybe you could…" he held out the flowers to Riza who shook her head.

"Sir this is between you and Ed and I am not going to become your messenger pigeon."

Roy gave a sort of wistful look at the door. "Riza what do I do?"

"I suggest you bring those flowers in," his Second Lieutenant proposed. Before Roy had a chance to argue Riza had taken his arm and steered him into the little shop. She wasn't meaning to play match maker, but knowing Roy he would stand outside the shop for hours before finally coming in. Her colonel might play the womanizer but years had taught her that if Mustang was actually serious about a woman he became a shy mess of nerves who never got anywhere without a good shove.

"She's upstairs," Riza said and grabbed her coat.

"You're not staying!"

"Nope. Good Luck." She exited the shop and sent out a quick prayer to Hughes. He had always been pressuring Mustang to get a wife after all.

Roy watched Riza walk down the street before turning and facing the stairs. He took a deep breath and started up them slowly.

Ed was seated at the kitchen table with the alchemy symbol in front of her. In a short amount of time she'd already amassed several books from her shelves and a personal journal filled with numerous notes. She muttered something to herself before cracking open one of the books and flipping through it quickly, her other hand already jotting an idea. Then her pen slipped into mouth and she sucked on it as she pulled the circle closer to her, tracing certain lines with her fingers. She hummed and smirked as if the puzzle before her was a game.

It was sort of mesmerizing to watch.

Finally he cleared his throat.

"Who was it Ri…oh," Ed stopped as she looked up and pulled the pen from her mouth. "Uh…hi Mustang." She immediately sank a little further into her chair at the sight of him. "Where's Hawkeye?"

"She left," Roy said, as he awkwardly stood at the top of the stairs. "May I come in?"

"Yeah sure." Ed's eyes gave Roy a once over before she could stop herself. She flushed. Damn those uniforms. She'd seen Mustang in one plenty of times and yet suddenly for some reason the sight made her chest fuzzy. "What are the flowers for?"

"For you?" Roy said as if even he was astounded by his answer.

"Me?!" Ed said standing up. Roy's eyes instantly dropped. Dear god the woman was wearing those tight leather pants again…and a thin little tank top. He forced himself to look back up at Ed's eyes and regretted it almost instantly. It was like he was hypnotized by big beautiful balls of gold.

"You brought me flowers?" Ed repeated taking the bouquet from him. She handled it delicately as she inspected it. The card attached read daffodils. "Huh…well thanks." She moved to the kitchen and fumbled around in the cupboards. Using some water glasses, Ed clapped and morphed the glass together to form an elegant vase with a spiraling dragon twirling around the outside crowned with glass daffodils. She inspected her handiwork before plopping the flowers and some water inside.

"How do you do that?" Roy asked as he checked out the vase.

"Alchemy?" Ed asked astonished. "Um…I'm pretty sure you know unless all that fire just leapt out of your ass."

"No I mean how did you do the dragon? I can always tell when you make or remake something because always add little artistic flairs," Roy explained. "I would never think to do that."

"That's 'cause your boring," Ed joked and shrugged. "I don't know. Teacher always did stuff like that so I just do it too. Makes it more interesting."

"Why don't you do that for your shop?" Roy suggested.

"Make vases?"

"Not just vases. You could do jewelry and sculptures," Roy embellished. "And you could do it for cheap while still being originals."

Ed was surprised by how much the idea appealed to her. She hated repetitive things, and it might be fun to run a sort of Alchemy Art shop. "I'll think about it." She leaned on the table and crossed her arms, inadvertently pushing her breasts together. Roy realized with a jolt that she wasn't wearing a bra. "So why are you here?" Ed questioned.

"I just thought we should…that we needed to talk." He gestured to the living room. "Can we sit down?"

Ed sized him up a minute before walking over to the couch and settling down. Roy placed himself gingerly on the opposite end, leaving an entire cushion as a barrier between Ed and the thoughts running through his head.

Roy floundered for a minute as the words caught in a place right below his throat. "I…um…I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," he answered truthfully and watched as Ed's eyes widened. He tread carefully least she bolt. "I really…"He covered his eyes. "This is complicated. I really like you…like I've always liked you as a friend and a subordinate. I didn't think of you like this when you were a man, but I still had strong feelings for you. And now that you're a woman…uh…they're still strong only different strong I guess," he rambled unable to stop now that his mouth had finally started moving. "And like last night I couldn't stop thinking about your hair."

"My hair?" Ed repeated bewildered. She flushed bright red and was sitting still as stone as her heart beat wildly willing her to flee yet unable to move.

"Yes!" Roy blurted and then looked away as his brain realized how ridiculous that sounded. The night before he'd imagined the way her hair might feel falling freely in waves against his open palms. He'd stroke the curls, moving slowly upwards to the back of her neck where he'd tilt her head back and… "Well I wasn't just thinking about your hair," Roy admitted sheepishly.

"Wow…okay…um," Ed stood up and started pacing around the coffee table. "Let me get this straight…you like me. Like me like me." Roy nodded. "Like think about me like me." Roy nodded again. "Like bring me fucking flowers like me." Roy glanced at the daffodils and nodded one last time. "Oh my god." Al had been right.

"Ed calm down," Roy said softly as he came over and reached out. She shrunk away from him, hugging herself. "I know," he agreed. "I was kind of surprised too. It's fine if you don't like me too." Ed looked at the floor, her brows knit together and her face drawn.

"I…I don't know if I like you," Ed said and Roy's heart sank. "But I've been thinking a lot about you too." She stared at him challenging and jutted out her chin as if daring him to laugh at her.

Roy smiled. "You have?" he said softly and reached up unfold her arms from her chest. He held them gently, her pulse trembling against his thumbs as he rubbed soft circles into her palms. Her hands felt like they were on fire as her nerves jumped in response to the skin on skin contact. Ed shivered. It was like he was a different person, alluring, tempting, and tugging at her reserves.

"Then maybe we could go on a date?" Roy wondered.

Ed swallowed dryly. "Yeah we could," she whispered. Why the hell was she whispering!? She mentally smacked herself and repeated, "Yes. I'll go. When?"

"Tomorrow. I'll come pick you up at five?" he offered. She nodded and he smiled again. "I'll see you then?"

Ed showed him the way out, Roy acting shy and Ed still feeling shocked. After she had locked the door, she went up and sat back on her couch. She was going on a date with Roy Mustang…she was going on a date with Roy Mustang...She, Edward Elric, was going on a god damn date with bastard Roy Mustang!

She grabbed the couch cushion and screamed into it.


	9. Chapter 9

Now the woman who'll kiss on the very first date, is probably a hussy. And the woman who'll kiss on the second time out is anything but fussy. But a woman who'll kiss on the third time around, head in the clouds, feet on the ground. She's the one he's glad he's found. He's his shipoopi. (For clarification, I was a drama kid in high school who preformed this song in a dress with a giant sun hat on long before Seth Macfarlane ruined it with Family Guy.) Also chapter 10 is written but uh...yeah I wrote it last night while drunk so I'm fixing it first. Damn my alcohol addled brain. hopefully it will be up in a few days.

Chapter 9

Ed wanted to melt into the floor and transmute into a plant. She didn't know why but the idea of the carbon in her body metamorphosing into a nice bush sounded like a fabulous idea. Bushes were inconspicuous and ignored and did not go on dates with their ex-commanding officer.

All day she had been freaking out, pacing around the apartment, and tearing into her wardrobe. She looked down at her outfit. She had on a nice pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a red jacket. Ed had horrifyingly considered the blue summer dress for a nanosecond before jamming on her boots and throwing her hair into a pony tail. This might be a date but she had standards damn it! Maybe she should reconsider calling Gracia? Her fingers had been itching every time she'd seen the phone, but she had resolutely decided she did not want any intervention. If she was going to do this, she needed to be herself and not some dolled up version. Maybe then they would both snap to their senses and end this affair before they regretted it.

Ed took another deep breath and fiddled with the locket Al and Winry had given her. She'd fallen to stroking it with her forefinger whenever she was anxious or preoccupied. It was soothing, like a balm on her flaring cheeks. She tapped her foot and checked her watch again. Two minutes to go. She could do this. It was just dinner right. Not a big deal. She could do this. Right?

She jumped as a knock came from the front door, and she hastily moved to open it. Roy smiled down at her. He was wearing a white button up and dark green vest with black slacks. "You look like a waiter," Ed said, spitting out the first thing she thought.

"And you look like a boy," Roy retorted as he stepped in. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Ed said as she snagged her purse. As much as she hated to admit it, Riza and Gracia had been right about the whole pockets thing. Women needed to carry a lot more things to function and women's pants just didn't have the space.

"Oh these are nice," Roy complimented the neat line of vases along one of the shelves. "You make thses?"

"Yeah. I went out and got some sand from the backyard and have been puttering." Alchemy had been the only thing keeping her sane through the day. "Did you know there's trace amounts of cobalt in the soil around here. It kept giving the glass a blue tint, not that I minded the color, but it took a while to figure out what was going on before I could filter it and do some plain glass vases. And then I got researching other minerals I could add to give color and it turns out rust can make it green," she told him.

"You did a good job," Roy said. "It seems like you're having fun with it." He followed Ed out the door and she locked up behind them.

"Yeah and I was like rust huh?" Ed continued. "I thought I could just get some iron and oxidize it myself because no one really sells rust, but then I was thinking that maybe I could get it for free and…" Ed continued on as they walked down the street, telling Roy about the chemical compositions she had been playing with. It was nice to chat without having to explain everything, and Ed was already losing herself as her and Roy theorized different transmutation circles that could pressurize a lump of carbon into a diamond efficiently.

Roy led them expertly to the little restaurant he'd chosen for the evening. It was a casual pasta joint knowing Ed would have felt flustered to go anywhere fancier. "What do you think?" Roy asked as they sat down and checked out the menu.

"Nice…are you paying?" Ed wondered. "I brought money but…"

"Ed I asked you on a date. Yes I am paying," Roy confirmed.

Ed mentally jumped as the word 'date' came up. She had been so caught up in the alchemy talk she'd forgotten to be nervous and now all the previous worries were rising to the surface. She tried to smirk and joke, "You're going to regret that," before hiding behind her menu as she calmed down again.

Roy noticed the sudden shift in her mood. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just picking the most expensive thing for you to buy me," Ed said and peeked over her menu. The waiter came by and they gave their drink orders quickly, a white wine for Roy and a chocolate shake for Ed.

Roy folded his menu on the table and reached over to pull Ed's down enough so he could look at her. "The most expensive thing is the steak on campanelle pasta. So would you put the menu down and look at me?"

Ed sighed and folded the menu as well. She'd already picked out what she wanted anyway. "Sorry," she said truly meaning it. "I guess I'm just…"

"Nervous?" Roy guessed. "Me too." He let out a breath he'd been holding as the waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders. Once he was gone Roy reached around his wine glass to take Ed's hand in his. He began rubbing his thumb into the center of her palm again, all his focus on the feel of skin against skin. Ed was watching fascinated as if she wasn't quite sure it was really happening. It felt electric, like the nerves in her palms were dancing to his touch. She glanced up and found him staring at her and her breath caught. His gaze was dark and piercing, and her lower stomach heated and twisted in a not so uncomfortable way. Ed forced her gaze back down to look at her hand. It was almost like he was rubbing little transmutation circles round and round her skin, using his fire to burn her from the inside out.

"That's my right arm," Ed said after a moment pulling her arm away. Roy looked up to see the expression on her face as unreadable. "A year ago it wouldn't have even been there for you to hold. You wouldn't want to hold my hand either."

"You never know," he answered, his gaze holding hers until she looked away and blushed. He withdrew his hand as their plates were set before them.

The rest of the dinner was quiet as they worked their way through their meals. After paying, they left and Ed looked at Roy expectantly. "So are we going home?" she asked.

"Not yet," Roy answered and started down the block in the direction of downtown. Ed jogged to catch up to him and after some hesitation reached down and took his hand. Roy didn't grasp back at first, too shocked by Ed's boldness, until he finally squeezed back. He led them down to the theatre. It was a newer building with a popcorn stand out front and a small line to get in.

"A picture?" Ed questioned as she looked up at the sign.

"Yeah…well they call them movies in the city. This one's in color," Roy explained. "I thought it would be interesting. You haven't been to a movie before right?"

"No. We don't have them in Risembol and it always seemed like a waste of money," Ed said as they entered the theatre and sat down. She jumped when the music started blaring.

"That's loud," she complained as the music swelled down and the credits flitted across the screen. Roy glanced at her as she shifted forward and rested her arms on the seat in front of her. Her back curved at this angle and Roy followed the line of her spine down to her…

"Woah!" Ed ducked automatically as the woman ran at the camera and disappeared off screen. "That was cool," she said out loud starting to get engrossed in the picture. The monster came tearing after the woman a moment later. She snorted. "Oh please. I've seen homunculus more terrifying than that."

"Shh!" Roy commanded and settled back to watch the story unfold. It was a horror but Ed didn't seem the least bit scared. In fact, she kept laughing as people were dragged off to be eaten. "Moron," she'd mutter before rolling her eyes at Roy. The story concluded with the two survivors kissing, the monster dead at their feet.

The lights lifted and Roy stretched. "So…good?" he asked as the other movie goers began filing out.

"Meh. I mean I think the whole moving picture thing is cool. I'm curious to see one of the machines. I wonder if they use alchemy at all in the process?" she wondered. "But the story was kind of silly. The idea of chemical warfare polluting a swamp and mutating into a monster is ridiculous. It would take thousands of years under the right conditions for any species to change so dramatically in nature."

"So…good?" Roy reiterated.

"Yeah it was fun," Ed admitted. "Maybe I'll take Al when he comes to town. He'll be terrified." She stood up and Roy followed her out of the theatre.

It had gotten quite late and Roy walked Ed back to her apartment. "Thank you," she said once they'd reached the door. "This was nice."

"You're welcome," Roy told her. "Could we do it again sometime?"

"Yeah," Ed said. "Maybe this time I can take you out? After all it wouldn't be equivalent exchange if you were the only one paying and taking me places."

"Does it have to be equivalent exchange?" Roy asked. "Can't I just take you out because I want to?"

"Yeah. And can't I just take you out because I want to?" Ed returned as she disconnected from him. She unlocked her door and stood awkwardly. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow at 5?" she asked.

"I'd rather not have you walk to my house," Roy said, leaning against the door jab. Ed felt him looming over her but it wasn't intimidating. It was intriguing.

"Then I'll take a taxi."

"Well…" Roy tried to protest but Ed gave him a determined look.

I'll take a taxi," she repeated forcefully. "See you then." Ed bid good night and slipped inside. Her impetuousness caused him to smirk as he too heading home.

* * *

He splashed himself with water and ran the droplets through his hair. Roy checked his outfit again. He'd gone more casual after Ed's biting 'waiter' comment yesterday. He was wearing some fitting brown pants and a navy blue button up. Last night's date had been different. He'd never had a woman wear pants on a first date before nor laugh and mock an entire horror show. He'd been secretly hoping Ed would cuddle into him in terror. He'd also never had a woman offer to take _him _out. But then again this wasn't an ordinary woman he was courting…were they courting? Did two dates count as courting? He liked the idea. He hadn't seriously dated anybody since before he'd joined the military. But he wasn't sure if Ed felt the same way or if this was all just a social experiment to see if she could date a man. He remembered the feel of her skin as he'd held her hand the night before, and hoped she felt something.

The doorbell rang and he splashed himself in the face once more to clear his head before drying off. His apartment was a modest three rooms: a bathroom, a large bedroom, and a kitchen slash living room that was separated by a counter top peninsula that served as the kitchen table. It was sparsely decorated with the bare necessities, although he did have a few paintings on the wall of villas and wine bottles artfully drawn against a platter of grapes. He'd received those as a gift from Hawkeye whose first comment when he moved in was that it looked homely.

He checked his outfit once more before taking a deep breath and opening the door. Ed was facing away from him in her skin tight leather pants which of course drew his eyes straight down to her ass. She looked over her shoulder at him and he immediately forced his eyes upwards. "Took you long enough," Ed said. "The taxi's waiting."

"Hello to you too," Roy greeted. "So what are we doing tonight?" he asked as he locked up.

"You'll see," Ed said and led the way to the taxi. Roy climbed in and was instantly aware of how small the backseat was. He was pressed up against Ed and she blushed and looked out the window. "Sorry. It was the only cab I could get," she apologized. Roy twisted his arm to put it around Ed's shoulders. "I hope you don't mind. We're kind of cramped back here." Ed sighed and leaned in. "It can't be helped," she agreed noting at how neatly her head seemed to fit under his chin in this position. She could feel every hard plane of muscle beneath his shirt and tried desperately to ignore the way her body craved for more.

"Can I get a hint as to where we're going?" he asked.

"Tachi recommended it," Ed said. She had talked to her earlier on the phone. The xingian woman was the only one Ed felt confident in contacting for advice since she saw Ed as just another woman.

They finally arrived at an old warehouse and Ed climbed out and led the way to a dented wooden door lit by a rusted industrial light. Now Roy was really curious as to where they were going.

"Is this a club?" he asked and Ed rolled her eyes. She opened the door to reveal several long tables covered in food and cutting boards. A few other couples were milling around including…

"You made it!" Tachi said and came over and gave Ed a hug. "I worried you get lost." Havoc was trying to tie an apron around himself but was getting hopelessly entangled.

"Colonel!?" he wondered aloud at seeing Roy. "I wondered who Edna was coming with. Tachi wouldn't tell me."

"What is all this?" Roy asked coming over to look down at the stations. There were steaks, spices, broccoli, onions, and several other items sitting around on dishes.

"It's a couples cooking class," Havoc explained. "You make the food and then you get to eat it."

"Yeah. I don't know how to cook, so I figured this would be good practice," Ed explained. She frowned at the frilly pink apron that was left out for the women before grabbing the plain grey one and slipping it on. "Here this is for you," Ed said and put the pink one over Roy's head. He looked down in dismay and tried to take it off. "I'm not wearing that," he established right as a flamboyant, short little man flounced over to them.

"Ah are you Roy?" the teacher said coming over to them. "Oh sir allow me to help you." He quickly tied the apron around Roy's back and pushed him and Havoc in front of one of the tables. "There you two make a lovely couple." The colonel and his second lieutenant looked at each other in horror.

Tachi and Ed started giggling. "Oh…they look so cute," Ed teased. "C'mon Roy. It's not like you haven't been attracted to a man before." She winked at him.

"You have!?" Havoc asked in shock.

"No I have not," Roy said and took Ed by the hand and steered her over to another table. Once they were out of hearing range of Havoc and Tachi, he turned to Ed and asked, "A cooking class?"

"Yes. It's cheap because you only pay for the raw ingredients and the lesson, you get a good meal, and you learn something." She patted Roy on the shoulder. "It'll be fun," she said with confidence before picking one of the knives and checking the recipe paper in front of them. The teacher bounced over to their table and got Ed started cutting onions and Roy pounding out the steaks and rubbing them down with herbs. Roy glanced over at Ed as she started to tear up and her golden eyes got glassy.

"You okay?" he asked, grabbing a napkin and reaching over to wipe off her cheeks. Ed blushed and blinked at him. "Yeah…I'll be okay," she said and turned the full blast of her watery eyes on him. Roy staggered as his heart jolted from a direct hit. God she looked so cute.

Ed took the napkin from him and finished wiping off the tears. "Well at least we know the onions are fresh." She smiled at him. "That apron really does look good on you."

"Thanks," Roy said sarcastically before going back to pounding out the meat and his sexual frustration.

Once they had the veggies cut and the meat prepped they brought their food over to the large grill where the teacher was advising people. Roy watched Tachi feed a piece of cooked pepper to Havoc and glanced at Ed. Should he try it? He picked up a small piece of steak and held it out for her. "Want to try some?" Ed blinked at him before blushing and leaning in to take the proffered meat. She gave the tips of his fingers a little suck and licked her lips and Roy felt something carnal stir below his abdomen. "It's good," she said, completely unaware of how sinful she'd just acted. Roy was staring at her and she raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

He cleared his throat. "Nothing."

Tachi came bustling at that moment and said something to Ed in xingian before pulling her aside. As the two women moved away, Havoc walked over to stand next to him. "So two dates huh?" he asked. "I thought you were more of a one night only man colonel, no offense."

"Three," Roy corrected. "I went out with her yesterday too."

Havoc let out a whistle before using the grill to light up a cigarette and take a long drag. "Damn. You're serious then?" Roy nodded and they both looked over to where the two women talked. They stood the same height, but against each other they looked like ying and yang; Tachi a dark haired exotic beauty and Ed a brilliant ray of golden sun shine. "Well you know what they say about the third date right? It's either the last or the one that starts everything," Havoc said.

Ed glanced back at Roy and Havoc.

_"So have you done anything yet?" _Tachi probed. _"Like have you spent time at his house?" _

_"No. My god it's only the third time we've gone out,"_ Ed protested.

_"Well you know men expect something on the third time,"_ Tachi insisted. _"Tug them along too much and they decide you aren't interested."_

_"What do you mean?"_ Ed asked wearily. She picked up one of the unused peppers and started passing it from one hand to the other.

_"Like kissing and sex,"_ Tachi said dismissively and Ed dropped the pepper. It bounced along the ground and like a bad twist of fate landed right in front of Roy's shoe. He picked it up and went over to hand it back to her. Ed stared at the pepper and then up at Roy, lingering an unnecessary long time on his lips. Kiss…ROY!?

"Ed you dropped this," he said after a moment of her gaping at him like a deer in the headlights. She managed to grunt unintelligibly as she took it back and set it on the table. "The foods almost ready," Roy informed them, gesturing to the grill. Tachi smiled and sashayed over to Havoc where she gave him a little peck on the cheek. She winked at Ed before dragging her date back to their part of the grill to start plating the food.

"You two have a good talk?" he asked. Ed nodded and picked up the plate automatically to get her steak and vegetables off the grill.

Now that it had been said, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Roy had almost done it back at the ball. She'd remembered the panic that had gripped her but it hadn't been disgust. It was more fear of doubts and inexperience. The actually idea of kissing Roy Mustang was not as unappealing when she actually played out the scenario in her head. Could she do it? Should she do it? What if he took it as a sign to advance? She was fine with a kiss but anything else was completely out of the question. Wait…did she just think kissing was fine?

"Ed." Roy waved a hand in front of her face and she snapped out of her reverie. "Are you okay? You haven't touched your food."

"Uh…yeah I'm fine." Ed cut into her meal and paused a moment as her eyes lit up from the taste. "Woah this is delicious," she said. "I'm totally trying that recipe at home."

"It's the first food you cooked for me," Roy half-joked. "Although I don't think it would have come out this good without my help. This was fun. Different from what I'm used to."

They both smiled at each other before continuing their meal. After they had handed in their aprons and bid farewell to Tachi and Havoc, they picked up a (thankfully larger) taxi for the ride home. They stopped outside of Ed's apartment but instead of getting out Ed lingered for a moment.

"What is it?" Roy asked as Ed reached out and took his hand.

"You um…you wanna come up for a minute?" she inquired timidly.

Roy tried to search her face some reason behind this sudden request but she had it facing away from him, her chin bowed down and her bangs hiding her blush. Havoc's words played over in his head. _"Well you know what they say about the third date right? It's either the last or the one that starts everything." _

"Okay."


	10. Chapter 10

You can thank this chapter to wine and the song "I Believe" from Basic Vacation. Seriously though, I wrote most of this while slightly drunk, but i edited it while sober so I hope that helped.

Chapter 10

Roy focused on Ed's hand as she paid the cabbie, pulled him from the car, and opened the front door. It was so small compared to his hand but it wasn't soft or fleshy like other girls. It was hard and calloused and strong. It had moved mountains, saved lives, and done the impossible. It was Ed's hand. And it was shaking against his palm.

She locked up behind them and led the way upstairs, the whole time never letting go. Not even when she toed off her boots and flicked on the light did her grip lessen.

"Ed." Roy turned her to look at him. "We don't have to do this."

"I want to," Ed said stubbornly.

"You're nervous and I can tell." He pulled from her grasp and settled his hands on her shoulders. She stiffened but didn't pull away, her head still resolutely trained on the ground. "Can you at least look at me?"

Ed met his eyes. "I just want…I want to…" But every time she tried to voice it her breath caught and her throat squeezed up. How the hell was she supposed to do this when he was looking at her like that, serious and handsome and trusting and everything. Roy wove an arm around her back and tilted her chin up. "What is it you want Edward," he asked so softly that she wouldn't have been able to hear him except he was so impossibly close. He could see it in her eyes and feel it in her heart beating wildly against his own as their chests pressed together. But Roy needed her to say it. He needed her to admit it to herself.

"I want to kiss you," she finally whispered back and he moved forward and did just that.

Ed let out a little gasp as their lips touched and she leaned into him. It was electric and her brain short circuited as everything became Roy: his lips, his hair, his body against hers, his hands tracing a path down her back. Her eyes fluttered shut as time stopped and the whole world shrank down to just them. He pressed forward a little more, unable to contain himself as the floodgates were finally opened, and Ed felt his tongue glide against her lips. She opened her mouth without thinking and let out a groan as the kiss deepened.

Roy let out a deeper moan in response as the woman against him writhed against his every touch. She was perfect. His hand traveled up to the base of her neck and yanked out the offending hair band so he could run his fingers up into the sheets of gold that spilled down. She was like fire and Roy was burning up and basking in her brilliance as he worshiped her. Her body fit against his like a puzzle piece and he felt some primal part of his masculinity wanting to mark it. Claim it. She was his. He was addicted and he was never letting her go.

He finally left her mouth to trail kisses down her throat and he felt her shiver against him.

"Roy," she panted. _Wait_ her addled brain said. It was too much too soon. "Roy." She licked her swollen lips and managed to gasp out. "Stop."

Roy seemed to return to himself with that word. He had been half way down to her chest when he pulled back, surprised he'd taken it so far so quickly. "I'm sorry," he said straightening up.

"It's okay. Just...," Ed said, trying to catch her breath. "Holy crap."

Roy let out a laugh and Ed decided she really liked the sound. "You can say that again."

"I just need to take this slow."

"You don't have to explain a thing," Roy told her. "I can go home if you need me too."

"I invited you in. I don't want to kick you out," Ed protested. "I can sleep on the couch or something."

"Could we share the bed?" Roy wondered, seeing if he could push the envelope just slightly. "I promise I won't do anything."

Well she was already this far down the rabbit hole. "Yeah." She stepped back from him, instantly feeling the loss of his body heat. "I just need to go use the bathroom." She moved like a robot and the moment the door shut behind her she fell against it and covered her face with her hands.

That had been... she hadn't a word to describe it. She knew what it was like to feel aroused, to feel needy, but this was totally different. As a man, arousal had been a somewhat unwanted development of puberty. The only time he had been even slightly okay with it was when it had involved Winry. But that had been innocent. A few heated glances and some hugs that had them holding on far longer. He remembered what it was like to have a woman against him. He remembered the want to be protective and careful. They had been playing a tentative game then because of all the 'what ifs' he had been going through.

But with Roy it was totally different. A whole host of new wants had risen to the surface. She wanted…dear god she wanted him to touch her _there_. A desire had risen to be taken versus previous desires to take. She wasn't hard but she was wet and her stomach burned with need.

"Not yet," she said out loud. She needed time to cope first. Her body might be ready, but her mind certainly was not.

She stood up slowly and went to the mirror to look at herself. Her hair was disheveled and falling around her shoulders, even slipping into her cleavage which was almost popping out her shirt. Her lips were puffy and pink and her eyes slightly glazed over. She didn't have to be a genius to know she looked rather alluring in her current state. If they were going to keep things relatively chase, she had to straighten up.

After fixing her appearance to something less seductive, Ed exited the bathroom to find Roy sitting on the couch. He had turned on her radio and was watching the traffic on the street below. Did he feel the same protective need she remembered feeling. She felt protective of him but it was different. Her whole world had been turned upside down only six months ago and now here was Roy Mustang turning it upside down yet again.

He noticed her staring and turned to look at her. "What's up?"

"Just reminding myself that you're still a Colonel Bastard," Ed said as she came over and sat down next to him.

Roy smirked. "Well I'm glad that hasn't changed," he said. "I'd be worried otherwise." He scooted over so he could put his arm over her shoulder. "Ya know that's really not an insult to me. I am one."

"You're what?" Ed asked confused.

"I'm a bastard. My mother wasn't married when she got pregnant," Roy explained. "In fact I'm the reason my parents got married, but they both passed away when I was three. I was raised by my aunt here in central. I'll take you to meet her sometime."

Ed was surprised by Roy's explanation. "Why'd you tell me?" she asked.

"Well I thinking, Ed, that I know a whole lot about you. But you don't know anything about me." He reached over and turned her cheek to look at him fully. "And…" he gave her a chase kiss. Then another. And one more for good measure. "If we're going to be doing this, I want to be able to do things like take you to meet Aunt Chris. Also I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that anymore."

"You'll be Colonel Bastard until the day you die," Ed said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"And you'll be a shrimp," Roy retorted, smiling even wider when Ed started her usual 'I'm not tiny' rant. He kissed her again to shut her up which resulted in him getting a half-hearted punch on the shoulder.

"Fine. Anything else I should know?" Ed asked when he released her.

"Let's see. I'm a Gemini, my favorite color is yellow, and I would like this night to continue into many more. You?"

"I think zodiac signs are a load of shit, my favorite color is red, and I also don't mind continuing this although I am by no means your girlfriend," Ed returned.

"And why can't you be my girlfriend?" Roy asked and proceeded to kiss her again. Now that the initial heat had subsided to embers, he took his time tracing the contours of Ed's lips and tongue with his own. He savored every little movement and sound she made for him. They were like that for a long time, just lazily kissing each other on the couch, not able or wanting to stop until the clock on the wall finally chimed that it was almost ten.

Roy finally backed off from where he had crept over Ed, almost pushing her down to lay on the couch as he kissed her. "We should go to bed," he said. Ed nodded, allowing him to pull her to the bedroom. They put their backs to each other and stripped in silence both trying to calm down some from the eventful evening. Ed slipped under the covers in just a tank top and underwear. She heard the light click off and a moment later she felt his body next to her. He pulled her back to cradle against him and she could tell he had taken off his shirt although the darkness hid the rest. His arms wrapped around her and Ed felt herself nestling back. It was exhilarating but at the same time it was nice just to be held.

"We're not doing anything," Ed reaffirmed feeling as though sleep was the farthest thing from her mind.

"I know," Roy said and kissed her neck. "I'm okay with this."

"Good night then."

"Good night."

* * *

The morning light filtered in and cast a dim glow on the covers. Roy groaned and turned his face away from the light. What time was it? What day was it? He was usually expected in the office at nine at the latest. He blinked and for a moment didn't recognize his surroundings. Where was he?

He lifted up his head and looking around the room the memories came back. Oh that was right. He'd slept over at Ed's house last night. It was a Sunday so no major rush to go anywhere which was probably why Ed hadn't shaken him awake earlier. Speaking of which, her pillow was empty. He pressed his face into it and just breathed for a moment. It smelled nice, sort of spicy with a tinge of something artificially sweet that had to be her shampoo.

He got up and padded barefoot out of the room to the tiny kitchen. The table was covered in notes and books and he saw the array he had sent to her. She'd drawn it bigger and labeled the various parts with lines in different colors. Ed had his back to him and he smirked at her outfit. She had on a pair of blue boxers that hung almost to her knees and a tank top that rode up just slightly to show a small seam of skin. He came over to hug her from behind, wrapping his arms around her stomach and pressing his head into her shoulder to breath in some more of her unique scent. He felt her freeze at his touch before she continued slapping generous amounts of butter and jam on her toast. Hmm…he could definitely get used to this.

"Morning," she greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Alright," he answered. He gave her a little kiss where her neck and shoulder joined which caused her to arch her head slightly. "I like your underwear," he whispered into her ear teasingly and felt her whole body grow warm as she flushed. She shrugged him off.

"They're comfortable," Ed said defensively. She turned to face him and found her way blocked as he put both arms on either side of her, bracing himself against the counter top. "I tried wearing panties for a little while, but I wasn't overtly fond. Is it weird?"

"No," Roy said and gave her a kiss. "It's cute."

Ed blushed harder and shoved him off. "Your breath stinks. Go brush your teeth." Roy chuckled as she grabbed the toast and brought it back over to the table where she had been working. After finding a shirtless, snoozing Mustang in her bed early this morning, Ed had fled to the kitchen and delved into the array. He was still shirtless, and despite her best efforts, she found her gaze constantly traveling south for an eye-full of taunt masculine muscle.

Roy sat down across from her and picked up some of her notes. His playful demeanor changed as he started to read it. "Ed are you sure about this?" he asked.

Ed took a bite of toast. "Positive." She pointed out the symbols on her enlarged array. The signs used for spirit and energy. "Roy the way this is drawn can only point to human transmutation. But it's worse than that. This isn't about trying to bring someone back from the dead or transform them. This is trying to create a brand new person. It's mapped out what I think is a formula for cell creation. But it's impossible to create something from nothing. Matter can only be changed…"

"…not created," Roy finished for her. It was only the oldest law of science. It was what made equivalent exchange fundamental. "What the hell are they trying to do in those labs?"

"I don't know but Roy if they were to activate something like this people could die. Every time human transmutation occurs we're talking huge costs for the alchemists involved. All the energy they're producing with this array…" She tapped the paper in front of her. "Without matter or some source of exit, it would act just like a bomb going off."

"How big do you think?" Roy asked seriously as he studied the array.

"With enough people feeding it, it could easily level a city," Ed explained.

Roy sat back in his seat and wiped his hand over his brow as he shook his head. "First they dissolve the state alchemists and now this." His mouth thinned in anger. "All the Fuhrer has spoken about is trying to keep another conflict from arising. Well this is it." He slapped his hand down on the table. "Create a weapon so detrimental, that to try and fight against it would be instantaneous genocide."

"But why have human transmutation mixed in? If the array is just a bomb they could have used a whole host of methods."

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." He stood up and went to get his shirt from the bedroom. "I need to go home and make some calls. Ed do you have a pan?"

Ed rummaged around her cupboards and pulled out a small cast iron skillet just as Roy returned, dressed and running Ed's brush through his hair. He started to pile all the notes and arrays into the skillet and, realizing what he was doing, Ed ripped several pages out of her notebook and added it to the pile. When all the incriminating papers had been piled on Roy pulled out his gloves from his pocket.

"I thought you couldn't have those anymore?" Ed said as Roy slipped on the familiar material.

"Like I'd let them take these. I'm the Flame Alchemist." He snapped and they watched the pile of papers ignite. "And with the way things are going we may need Fullmetal back too."

(Hides from all the people screaming at the author because they didn't have sex...they will...later...promise)


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the long wait. Work's been crazy. hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 11

Alphonse checked his watch again. Ed had promised to pick him up from the station at four and it was almost four thirty.

"Al!" He turned and suddenly had his arms full as Edward tackled him. After his moment of shock was gone, he hugged back. "It's great to see you Ed," he said.

"You too," Ed said and stepped back to look at her brother. "Wow. You've filled right out. You get taller?" Alphonse seemed to have gained a few inches since they'd last met, and his chest had filled out with muscle. She gave his arm a squeeze and found it firm in response.

"Ah yeah. I've been working a lot," he rubbed the back of his head. "The shops been doing good, and I've been doing a lot of manual labor for Winry."

Ed grabbed several of Al's bags and helped him over to the taxi she'd rented. "How's that been going?" she asked as they climbed in. The sting of her separation from Winry had subsided, and it made her happy to think her brother and best friend were making each other happy.

"Really good," Al said. "We've gone out on quite a few dates and we've been working together and uh…" He blushed. "We kissed."

"Oh?" Ed smirked. "That's good. I'm glad you two are doing well."

"What about you?" Alphonse asked as they pulled up to the apartment and exited the cab. "How have you been doing?"

"Alright," Ed responded quietly helped carry the luggage inside. "Hey, you haven't seen the shop. I'm doing like art alchemy." She pointed to the vases lined up along the wall. Below them were several statues that she had created the day before. There was a dragon, a cat, and a hummingbird drinking from a lily.

"I love the kitty," Alphonse gushed, temporarily distracted by the little rock statue. But only temporarily. "So you have anyone?" He shrugged and off-handedly wondered, "You said something about Mustang."

Ed's eyes went wide. "Mustang?!" She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah right like…I…would…" Her sentence drifted off as Alphonse gave her his patented Ed-stop-lying-and-tell-the-truth glare. Even though he wasn't in a six foot tall metal suit anymore, her brother still had the ability to make her feel incredibly tiny. She pursed her lips and looked away from him. "We might have gone on a date."

"Ed…" Al warned.

"A few dates."

"And what happened on these dates."

Ed huffed. "It's none of your business Alphonse. They were dates, we went out, and had dinner. He took me to a movie, which I kindda wanna take you to while you're visiting."

Al rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Ed of course it's my business. I'm your brother. Whom you date, especially when it's the Colonel, is definitely my business." He picked up his suitcase. "Well I want to have a talk with Mustang then before I leave."

Ed grabbed the other bag and started lugging them up the staircase with Al on her heels. "Aren't you taking this 'protecting your sister' thing a bit far? It's Roy for pete's sake. Not to mention that regardless of my physical appearance I am still your big brother."

"Ed that is exactly why I want to talk to him," Al said and dropped his suitcase when they'd reached the landing. "I mean what if you got pregnant or…"

"We haven't done _that_ Al!" Ed practically yelled as a huge blush hit her face.

"I'm not an idiot Ed. I know how things work," Al argued.

"Oh like you and Winry have…" Ed started to say and Al suddenly got red very red. He gave her a sheepish smile before his eyes looked away in embarrassment. Ed's jaw dropped. "Alphonse! You didn't!"

"Maybe," her younger brother mumbled.

"I'm calling Winry," Ed said and stomped over to the phone. "A few months and you're already corrupted."

"Ed wait…"

After a long argument about the birds and the bees and the fact that a certain bee and bird had been very busy, Ed decided not to call Winry nor rant anymore at Alphonse about safe sex, responsibility, and other things that made them both want to crawl under a rock and blush themselves to death. Yet despite the awkwardness of their first conversation, the two managed to get Alphonse settled and order pizza. As they easily devoured a large, Ed took the time to fill Alphonse in on all that had been going on in Central.

"I'd read in the papers they'd closed the State Alchemists," Al said over a bite of cheese and pepperoni. "Believe it or not, Granny wasn't thrilled about it. She said it sounded like there was a rat in Central."

Ed nodded. "Yeah and I think that rat is Olan Harbring. He's the ambassador for Drachma, and apparently this is all in compliance to some treaty they offered Amestrias." She took a sip of her drink. "Roy actually asked if I could tell a few people the truth and get a spy network going. He's watched but I'm a citizen. I'm nobody as far as the military is concerned."

"You mean tell people that you're not dead?" Al wondered. "Ed what if the wrong people find out?"

"It would only be people I trust completely. Like Roy's team, Armstrong, and Teacher's husband, Sig," Ed explained. "I was hoping you and Winry too. All we're looking for is people to keep their ears open. Do some digging if they can."

"What could Winry and I do all the way out in Risembol?" Al wondered.

"You're my brother. I might be dead, but the name Alphonse Elric is one the military remembers. They could seek you out," Ed told him. "With this bomb their building I don't think Risembol is going to be as isolated as it once was."

Alphonse tapped his fingers on the table. "Do you think Winry and Granny will be safe?" he asked anxiously. "Maybe I should move here."

"Al," Ed tried to reason. "It will seem suspicious if you leave your girlfriend to come and live with your cousin." She smiled. "Plus who better to keep them safe than you?"

"And is the Colonel going to keep you safe?" Alphonse wondered cheekily.

Ed choked on her drink and started to cough. "Yeah right," she wheezed out after a moment. "At the moment he can't legally have those gloves he's toting about. Oh that reminds me…" Ed got up and jogged down to the shop. In a moment she had returned with a wide metal bracelet around her right wrist. "This is steel, but I've been fiddling with the chemical composition to reinforce it." She clapped her hands and slid her hands over the metal, transforming it into the familiar blade that was once part of her automail. "I figured with the weather getting colder I could hide it under long sleeve shirts. I need to test it out though." She smiled at her brother. "You wanna spar?"

* * *

The evening had subsided to a cool breeze and the trees were already starting their slow turn to orange. After another long and fruitless day at the office, Roy had decided to check up on Ed before heading home. She'd told him several days ago that Alphonse was visiting, and he planned to give the siblings some much needed bonding time. However, a quick hello seemed appropriate, especially considering the relationship he was hoping to foster with Ed.

It still felt odd to think of Ed as his girlfriend, although he wasn't opposed to the idea. Quite the opposite considering how many times that kiss had replayed in his mind the last few days.

He poked his head into the shop. "Ed! Al!?" Roy called out as he stepped in. There was no response and Roy jogged upstairs to find the apartment empty. Al's bags on the couch and an empty pizza box were evidence the siblings had been around…but where…

A loud shout of joy caused him to check the window above the kitchen sink. Behind the shop was a small lot squashed between the surrounding buildings with a small alley that led to the street. It was a rarely used strip of dead grass that looked to be more of a catch all garbage dump for the nearby tenants. However, it seemed the optimistic siblings also saw it as a good place to tackle each other.

Ed was sporting a blade that looked familiar to the one she'd created from her automail and Alphonse had transformed a garbage lid into a fashionable shield. It was amazing to watch them fight, almost like a dance. Ed was all about acrobatics and swooping high kicks that had her leg muscles lashing out like vipers and her toes glancing the ground before she was up flipping backwards to land like a crouched cat. Alphonse was the exact opposite. He was planted, like a rock taking beating after beating and using his larger size and strength to push Ed back into a corner. Instead of using a series of fast kicks and punches, he stood his ground until the moment he could unleash one strong devastating punch that would send Ed careening back.

Yet despite the ferocity of their battle, they were both smiling, taunting each other, and laughing in response. Roy watched them for a while before heading back downstairs. He would come back another time when he didn't feel as if he would be interrupting something so sacred.

* * *

"I am so curious to try this," Alphonse said. Ed and Alphonse had been invited to Gracia's Wednesday night for supper and the woman had created a feast. There were pork chops, mashed potatoes, carrots slathered in honey glaze, and an endless supply of warm biscuits covered in butter and jam. They had rarely talked the whole meal if only to express how delicious it was and to ask for seconds.

But now came the crescendo of the meal. Gracia's peach pie.

"It's really really good Alphonse," Ed told him.

"Yeah it sounds it," Al said, completely unaware of how Elisia was looking at him. She had a cute little pink blush on her cheeks and she kept glancing at him and tripping over herself when he talked to her. Ed had to admit it was kind of cute. The five year olds first crush, probably so new strange the little girl wasn't even fully aware of why she was acting this way.

A knock came at the door and Gracia poked her head out of the kitchen, her hands busy whipping some cream.

"I got it," Ed said and hopped up. She peeked out the window and was a little surprised to see Mustang standing outside. He was dressed casually and warding off the rain with a large black umbrella. Ed opened the door and raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Gracia told Riza and Riza told me. I'm not staying for long. Just wanted to say hello to Al while he was in town," Roy explained.

"Who is it Ed?" Gracia called from the kitchen.

"Colonel Bastard," Ed yelled back.

"Tell him to make himself at home, I'm almost done," Gracia returned, a hint of laughter in her voice.

Alphonse perked up as Roy followed Ed into the dining room. "Colonel," he greeted and Roy didn't miss the cool tone he used or the fact that he crossed his arms like a disapproving father.

"Alphonse," Roy replied as he settled himself at the dining table. "It's nice to see you."

Al didn't respond although he noticed the little pink blush on Ed's cheeks and the way she kept glancing at Roy. The colonel caught her once and winked causing Ed's face to flare even more. A moment later there was a thump under the table and Roy jumped before glaring at Ed. "If you want to play footsies can you please not use your automail," Roy said as he messaged his shin and Ed gave him a very smug smile.

Alphonse was taken aback by the display, feeling like he was watching the playful flirting of a seasoned couple versus his sister and the colonel. But then, as he thought about it, hadn't Ed and Roy always acted like this?

"Colonel," Alphonse asked and folded his hands on the table. Elisia mimicked him, even giving Roy an identical stern glare. "You and my sister are…dating? Correct?"

Roy settled his arms in front of him as well. "Yes. Are you okay with that?"

Ed scowled at her brother. "Alphonse I already told you it's none of your business."

"After you gave an hour long rant about…" Alphonse peeked at Elisia. "…certain mature things about my relationship, I think I can ask the colonel if you guys are dating."

At that Roy started to smile. "Why Alphonse I never thought you'd beat your sister to that particular punch." Ed hit Roy hard in the shoulder causing the older man to wince.

"How's that for a particular punch," Ed muttered.

"Your brother is just curious about my intentions Ed." That received another punch. It was probably well deserved considering those intentions were far from pure.

"And you're okay with this Ed?" Alphonse asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.

"I…uh…"

Ed was saved from answering as Gracia dramatically brought in the pie and placed it in the center of the table.

She glanced over at Roy. Was she really okay with it? Was she really okay with being intimate with Roy?


	12. Chapter 12

I'm so tired right now, so my apologies for any mistakes. This chapter is more of an Ed coming to terms with herself chapter.

Chapter 12

Ed stood on the platform of the train station and waved mournfully as the face of her brother disappeared from the train window and the engine pulled away from the station. Finding out how far Al and Winry's relationship had progressed had left him with a sour taste in his mouth. It wasn't…fair. Rarely had she ever thought such things and it made her feel incredibly guilty and selfish. Alphonse had been through enough after all.

But what about her? Was this thing with Roy just a thing or was Alphonse right in questioning Mustangs intentions?

On the walk home she began pondering what it was _she _intended from all this. Her brain logically argued 'You and Roy have known each other for years and your gender change has created a natural new avenue to explore. You find him attractive and get along well so there's no reason not to see where this goes.' Then her heart gushed 'who cares if he can be a dick sometimes and his breath reeks in the early morning before he brushes his teeth. He's got adorable bed-head and his eyes sparkle and mushy gushy fluffy stuff.' And last but not least the most troublesome thoughts. Her pure animal instinct groaning 'He wants you and did you feel that kiss. Let him do it. It'll feel good. Just because you have girl parts doesn't mean it would be that much different. You want it too.'

Ed shivered. She'd been thinking about it ever since she'd woken up next to Roy. The idea made her hot and her gut and heart ganged up on her brain which couldn't decide if this was a good idea or not.

A hand waved in front of her face and Ed's instincts switched gears as she reached out and grabbed it, ready to twist into one of her martial arts techniques if need be.

"Ed, let go," Riza said. "That hurts."

Ed dropped her hand and took a breath. "I'm so sorry Riza. I was lost in thought, and you scared me."

"I figured after calling after you with no response," she said. The Leutenient Colonel was wearing her uniform and caring a leather purse. Not far behind her was Breda who nodded to Ed. "Hey Edna," he greeted. "Long time no see."

"We just left work," Riza explained. "Are you heading home?"

"Yeah," Ed said suddenly feeling some hope. Maybe Riza could help straighten things out. "Could I talk to you? Alone. It's important." After Riza asked Breda to give them a little space, Ed started. "Riza. I don't know what to do about Mustang."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…maybe. We…um…kissed and I just don't know what to do anymore. My brain is all messed up and Alphonse was just here asking about intentions and drilling Roy like he was my…boyfriend…or something stupid like that," Ed rambled out. "I don't know what to do."

Riza obviously hadn't been expecting all that from the surprised look on her face. But her face softened at Ed's distressed. It reminded her too much of a certain colonel's panic not that long ago. "Ed I really think this is something you need to figure out on your own."

"But you're supposed to help me with women things right?"

"This isn't a woman thing Ed," Riza crossed her arms in thought. "Ya know what. I think Gracia would be better off talking to you about all of this. She's had more experience in love than me."

"LOVE?!" Ed burst out. NO WAY! No way in hell was she in love with Mustang. Sure she liked him and they had gone on dates and kissed and he'd slept in her bed. But that did NOT equal love.

"Well maybe not love," Riza said calmly. "But something like it." Ed just stared at her wide eyed. "Why don't you stop at her place on the way home? You two can have a nice chat."

With that Riza motioned for Breda and the two waved to Ed as they continued their way down the street. Ed stood rooted to the spot before slowly turning and continuing on her way. Her heart was screaming in nauseas girly glee as her gut turned her stomach to butterflies and her brain decided to give up and just have a headache.

It was a miracle she managed to make it to Gracia's in one piece. The older woman was startled to find Ed unexpectedly standing on her front porch, but after fifteen minutes she had them both set up with nice warm cups of tea in the living room. Elisia was at school, thankfully, which gave them plenty of uninterrupted time to talk.

"I'm sorry again for just coming over like this," Ed said.

"Nonsense. You're always welcome," Gracia waved off and took a sip of her tea. "Now what is troubling you?"

"Gracia," Ed paused as she took a deep breath and then blurted, "How do you know if you're in love?"

Gracia was stunned by Ed's question. She looked thoughtfully into her tea cup for a time. "Why do you want to know?" she asked softly.

"Please Gracia. It's important," Ed said and leaned forward. "Trust me. I wouldn't be bringing this up if it wasn't"

"Love…" Gracia fiddled with the wedding ring she kept on a chain around her neck. "It's wonderful Ed. It's not about flowers and kisses. That's in the beginning. And after that it's so much more. It's about finding that person that completes you just like a puzzle piece. They don't mind listening to you rant and then acting like goofballs to make you smile. You argue about the little things like leaving used sandwich plates in the living room, but you can count on your hand the times you had real fights. When you're with him even the simplest things are fun from hanging in the park, to going to dinner, and even building a fort in the living room and then making love under…under it." Her voice cracked and the tears started to spill. "It's wonderful Ed. It's wonderful and so very hard."

Ed was out of her chair and around the coffee table in an instant. She held Gracia until the woman wiped her tears and pulled away. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm being silly."

"No," Ed said seriously. "Thank you for telling me."

"I just miss him so much. I still cry about it,' Gracia confessed. She took Ed's hands in her own and looked up at the young woman. "The heart is a fragile thing Ed. It can lift you up and bring you down in an instant. Be careful. Whatever you choose to do."

"But I don't know what to choose Gracia," Ed told her. "I was a man my whole life and now I'm a woman and…"

Gracia smiled through her tears and wiped them away. "Ed you don't act like a woman. Me and Riza have tried giving you some guidance, but I can see it. You talk like a man, you dress like a man, you even eat like a man. And I understand that. You are who you are and nothing physical can change that."

"I'm sorry," Ed said.

"No. Don't ever be sorry Ed," Gracia told him. "But love and you being a woman are two very different things."

"But I'm…" Ed couldn't finish. "I like Roy…and I don't know…if…"

"You can be intimate?" Gracia guessed. "Ed that is something you need to figure out. Only you'll know when you are ready." She brushed some of Ed's hair behind her ears. Maybe it was time for her to stop hiding.

* * *

Ed had disrobed and was staring in the mirror. She…was a she. Ed knew this, but had never really accepted it. In fact in all the times she had been a she, Ed had never really looked at her new body. Bathing, dressing, and undressing were done in a quick methodical way as if she was ashamed to look upon her own skin. She remembered her old body. The scars still arched across her right breast before stopping abruptly where her automail used to be.

She leaned in to examine her face. Her hair was the same. And so were her eyes. But her lips were fuller, and her jaw had smoothed out considerably. Ed massaged her boobs around in her hands a bit. They were sensitive and she could feel the hard little nubs of mammary glands beneath the flesh. Beneath that was her stomach which was thankfully quite similar to the one she had as a man, albeit a tad slimmer at the waist, curvy, and marred by an ugly scar. It was good to know that while the gate had changed her, it had not completely remade her.

Then came the most uncomfortable area for her to look. Her crotch. As weird as it was, Ed missed her penis a little. As a male it had been important to him, as it was to all males. And now it was gone.

She tilted her head to the side. Roy found all this…attractive?

She could see the appeal of women, but she just couldn't see the appeal of her as a woman. Especially when all she could see were the differences between what she had been and what she was now. Was she going to completely deny being romantic with someone because she wasn't a man anymore. She knew there were women who loved other women, but how did they do things? Ed could see herself dating a woman. After all she'd always been attracted to women.

But what about men? She'd kissed a man, but could she be romantic with a man, have a relationship with a man?

"Mom…I think I miss you the most right now," she said aloud wishing desperately her mother was here to help guide her through all of this.

She took a deep breath and put on the navy blue summer dress she'd bought with Riza and Gracia not that long ago. It was somewhat cold so she added her jacket and even added lipstick.

When Roy finally arrived, Ed was so anxious she was wiping the sweat from her hands.

Roy looked agitated as she descended the stairs, but that disappeared to pleasant surprise when he saw her. "What's all this?" he asked.

"I just wanted to look nice," Ed said. "Everything alright?"

"Just work. They want to move Breda and Falman out east," Mustang said. "Since I'm not a state alchemist anymore my crew is getting downsized. But they can't have just chosen Falman for no reason. He's my best detective."

Ed frowned. "You think they're trying to keep you from finding out what's going on."

Roy fisted his hands. "Yes. And not just me. Other officers who have shown…unfavorable views toward this treaty are being relocated or their teams dispersed." He loosened his shirt. "I'm just worried they're going to relocate me next."

Ed's body tightened, and her heart sank. "They wouldn't dare," she spat. "You're the hero of Ishval and the Flame Alchemist."

"I'm also vying to be Fuhrer someday," Roy reminded her.

Ed wasn't sure what to do. While the news of Breda and Falman upset her, Ed's whole body rejected the idea of Roy leaving too. "I'd come with you," Ed said.

"Ed…"

"No Roy listen. I'd come with you. This shop and apartment are just places to me. I can leave and start somewhere fresh again."

Roy was so astounded by her answer he didn't respond. A girlfriend you had a few dates with didn't just relocate to be with you. Only serious couples had that kind of relationship. He swallowed thickly. "Ed I don't think you realize what you're proposing."

"You're the one that asked me out on a date. You brought me flowers. You kissed me," Ed said and her cheeks flared up. "You started this, and I know Alphonse was all concerned about your intentions but what about mine? I've been thinking about it all day. Can I even do this? And why does it have to be you?" She stomped over and took Roy's collar. "But I want you. I want to do this. For as long as we can make it work. And you need to understand that I am a man, Mustang. I may be in this dress, but I am a man too." Ed pulled him a little closer, her violent yanking on his collar turning to a more alluring tug as she stepped closer to him. "And you are not going anywhere." She settled her arms around his shoulders and leaned into him. "Got it."

Roy nodded slowly and rested his hands on her hips, feeling as if he was touching something untamable that was just as likely to lash out as it was to purr. He certainly hadn't expected this when he'd left the office this afternoon. Ed commanding, putting her automail foot down, and staking claim to him… it was sort of sexy and touching at the same time.

"Yes ma'am…sir," Roy submitted. Ed let out a sigh of relief at his answer and laid her head on his chest. They stayed like that for a few moments before Roy broke the tension. "Did you still want to go out to eat?" he asked.

"We can still go," Ed said, feeling stupid now for her outburst, even if every word had been the truth. "I'm in this silly dress after all."

"I think you look beautiful. Leather boots and all." Roy smirked at her footwear.

"Heels suck." Ed tilted her head back to look him in the eyes. "Maybe…we could get take out?"

Roy gave her a chaste kiss. "That sounds like a perfect idea."


	13. Chapter 13

I hope I did this chapter alright. I wrote it while on retreat to the USAF summer camp (that's united states aikido federation. A very fun martial arts. Check it out if your interested)

Chapter 13

"You just move in?" Ed asked, looking at the paintings of grapes and wine bottles on the wall. They seemed a little tacky. Like they'd only been put there to cover a hole.

After Ed's explosive confession, she had asked if she could come spend the night at Roy's house (which she was only doing because he'd spent the night at hers…equivalent exchange and all that). She was staying on the couch though and had already staked her claim with a pillow and an overnight bag.

"I've been living here for nine years," Mustang said from the kitchen where he was unloading the xingian food they'd bought. Ed padded around the peninsula to peak in the bags before fishing out her order of sesame chicken.

"Where's the plates?" Ed picked out a piece of chicken to nibble on.

Roy plucked the box from her fingers. "I'll take care of it. Why don't you go grab a book to look at while I pull everything together?"

Ed snagged one more piece of chicken before scurrying from the kitchen to look at the bookcase. No surprise, the majority of Mustang's books were about alchemy. She looked down the shelves, most of the titles jumping out as ones she'd already read. However there were a few rarer volumes. Ed snagged _Earth Alchemy: A Brief Study of the Elements_ and settled herself down on the couch. The moment she cracked open the book a photo fluttered out and settled on her lap. It showed an older woman with dark black hair standing next to what had to be a younger Roy. He couldn't have been much older than herself and he was wearing what looked to be a brand new military uniform. His hair was shorter and his jaw less defined, but what really made him look different was his eyes. They seemed to sparkle with a mischievous mirth and his smile was genuine and open. She'd never seen him smile like that before. Roy's smile was soft and caring or sly and cunning. Never had she seen him smile in pure joy.

Her heart yearned suddenly for the handsome man in the photo and she looked over at his counter-part in the kitchen. Why didn't he smile like that anymore?

Roy set the filled plates and sodas on the peninsula and came over to lean on the back of the couch. "I forgot that was in there," Roy said and took the photo from Ed's grasp. "This is my aunt," Roy said and pointed to the woman in the photo. "She gave me that book shortly after I'd passed my state alchemist examine."

"Will I get to meet her soon?" Ed asked. "You mentioned you wanted me to."

"Maybe soon I will," Roy said. "Anyway dinners ready."

They settled down across from each other and Roy had to smirk at how Ed dug into her food like it was her last meal. After sating their hunger, Roy pulled out their fortune cookies. "So…you never did answer my question earlier," he mentioned.

"Which one?"

"What's with the dress?" Roy said and motioned to the navy blue skirt she was wearing. Ed looked down, realized her legs were open, and closed them.

"I told you I just wanted to look nice," Ed declared somewhat defensively.

"Edward," Roy pressed.

Ed put down her chopsticks, took a sip of her soda, and wiped her mouth before cracking open her fortune cookie and reading it. "If you worry about the steps you'll never see the outcome," she read aloud and laughed. "Well thank you oddly specific, annoyingly vague fortune."

Roy took the paper from her. "Why are you wearing a dress Ed? And don't pretend it's just to look nice. I could tell the moment you walked downstairs something was up."

Ed's cheeks flushed and she stood up. "I guess…" God why was it so hard to say this? Her tongue was tied three different ways and all the food now sat leaden in her gut. "I um…was worrying about being uh…ya know with you."

Roy stared at her a moment. "You mean…intimately," he said and cleared his throat.

"Yeah."

Roy felt like his brain had just about turned to mush. He'd been with women plenty of times, but to see Ed staring at him so earnestly was causing his chest to squeeze. She wanted to give up her innocence…to him. Not only that but Roy knew what Ed's true hang up was. "You do realize that once we do this there is no going back."

"Yes. I'm well aware of how sex works Roy."

"I'm not talking about sex," Roy said and stood up suddenly. His whole body felt like Ed had just lit it on fire and he moved around the peninsula towards her like a moth to a brilliant light. Ed didn't move, feeling completely vulnerable yet safe. The way he was looking at her, like she was the most precious thing in his life, made her breath hitch in her throat. "Ed…it would never be just sex with you," Roy said softly.

"Why me?" Ed asked and shook her head.

"I don't know," Roy answered truthfully. "I've dated before, but it's like I was just waiting for you. I don't know how else to explain it."

Ed felt tingly all over as she stepped in and kissed him. This wasn't like their previous kiss which had been a breaking tension of raw lust. It was more caring as they took their time exploring each other and just merging into one entity. Ed didn't even feel like she was herself anymore, but one part of a whole that was comprised of both of them.

Roy pulled back first, his eyes darkened sensually. He smiled and Ed let out a squeak as she was scooped up into his arms. She covered her mouth, embarrassed at the noise, until she realized Roy was heading for the bedroom. He kicked the door, closed it with his foot, and deposited her onto the bed with a grunt. "That automail is heavy," he said, panting a little.

"Or maybe you're just getting old," Ed taunted, the jibe coming out naturally despite the fact her heart was racing.

"I'll show you whose old." Roy shucked his jacket. He crawled down onto her and Ed gulped. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. As if sensing her worry, Roy gave her two comforting kisses on her forehead. "I'll only go as far as you're comfortable."

"I trust you," Ed nodded.

Roy started slow with a long kiss which Ed whole heartedly replied to as she wove her fingers up into his hair. All it took was a few little tugs and Roy was lost. He moved to kiss across her chin and down her throat, stopping to suck here and there. Ed gripped his hair harder and arched into him. Who knew her neck was so sensitive? It was like little shocks of pleasure lanced down through her and she moved to give him better access, her legs slipping apart so he could lie in between them. He pushed the strap of the dress to the side to gain access to her shoulder and Ed let out a needy groan.

Ed hands left his hair and tugged at his shirt, her shaking fingers trying to undo the buttons. She huffed and finally cursed as she tore the offending clothing off, sending buttons flying.

Roy stopped and looked down at his ruined shirt. "What the hell Ed," he panted, a bit pissed and turned on at the same time.

"I'll fix it later," Ed said and using a sneaky martial arts technique, hooked her automail around his leg and flipped them. She pushed open the wings of his shirt and ran her hands over the naked skin, tracing the bullet wounds and burns that marred it. She leaned down to kiss the old injuries and settled her full weight on his hips. Ed froze suddenly. A hard shaft pressed up in between her legs and Ed felt a piercing shot of pleasure every time she moved her core into it. Roy's head fell back on the pillow with a low moan and Ed lay down fully on him, reveling in the power she had. He may be a great alchemist and authoritative colonel, but with just a small erotic movement of her hips, he became a needy lust filled man.

"I could get used to this," Ed whispered and leaned down to repeat Roy's previous actions of kissing up and down his neck.

Roy was in heaven. He settled his hands on Ed's hips and tried to grind up into her. Her hair tickled his chin and he took a big inhale, soaking up her aroma like a drug. The house could fall down around them and he wouldn't care so long as Ed kept touching him. He reached up around her and started to yank the zipper of her dress down.

Abruptly Ed sat up and grabbed his hand.

"Don't…" she said a little panicked.

"We don't have to take everything off," Roy assured her.

Ed shook her head. "I have…scars..my automail," she admitted. "It's not pretty Roy. I don't want you to see it."

"I don't care," Roy said. He gestured to his chest. "Look at me. I'm not any better."

"You'll get mad at me," Ed said. Now Roy got worried. He knew Ed had a habit of hiding injuries, but what scars was she trying to hide from him? What was so bad he couldn't see?

"Ed show me!" he commanded, sitting up. "I'm going to see it sooner or later."

"No. You're not my boss anymore and you can't just tell me what to do!" Ed said her anger rising at the demand.

"No. I'm your boyfriend," Roy retorted. He took a deep breath and tried to reign in his anger. "Show me. Please," Roy begged and started to pull the dress off slowly. "Just let me see." Ed didn't fight it. She let the material start to roll off.

The remnant scars where her automail attached had not faded with the return of her arm, and there were the unmistakable puckers of old bullet wounds in her left shoulder. None of these surprised Roy. Ed had been a solider and injury was common. He pulled the dress down further and Roy had to take a minute to examine her breasts that heaved heavily beneath her bra with each breath. He kissed between her cleavage, trying to calm her as he pulled the material the rest of the way down and finally off of her. Ed was now sitting on his lap in only her bra and boxers and immediately her arms went to hug her stomach. He'd never seen her look so scared before. Ed never let fear dominate her, it always turned to anger or motivation. But she looked positively petrified, and Roy hesitated before he pulled her arms away.

There was a huge rippling of puckered and marbled skin on her right side. He ran his fingers over it, feeling that taunt roughness that indicated it had been seared shut.

"When did this happen?" he asked and took her shoulders forcing her to look at him. "Ed. Tell me."

Ed gulped. "Alphonse…it was the only way to get his body back." Ed tried to look away but Roy would have none of it.

"What are you talking about?"

"The stone was made of souls," Ed explained. "The humonculous triggered massacres like Ishval to capture enough into a stone." She looked him dead in the eyes. "But it wasn't complete. It needed a trigger to release all that energy. It needed one more soul."

Roy suddenly understood what Ed was talking about. "Ed why would you do something like that?"

"It was for Alphonse," Ed said and shoved Roy off. "Of course I would do it. I'm not an insane murderer who'd lure some innocent off the street to sacrifice. So when we started the array I did it quick. Right in the liver. It should have been fatal, but for whatever reason that son-of-a-bitch turned me into this." She gestured to her female body. "And you can't ever tell Alphonse. He didn't know and he doesn't need to know."

Roy felt so torn. He pulled her close to him, trying to envelope her body into his. "Why do you think so little of yourself?" he wondered aloud.

"It's not that. It's just there are more important things," Ed said.

"You are more important," Roy insisted. "You're the most important to me."

Ed didn't know what to say. She pressed her face into his chest, but she'd never feel ashamed for what she did. "You and Alphonse are the most important to me," Ed returned. "What's the point of living if I can't give my life to the people I love."

Roy kissed the top of her head, moving down to her lips, and caressing her back. "Then give it other ways," Roy said to her. "Alphonse would be devastated if anything happened to you."

"He has Winry," Ed said.

"I don't!" Roy said, and kissed above her heart and pressed his face into her chest. "I have you. I need you."

Ed swallowed hard again, feeling the weight of those words sink in. Was this what Gracia had meant by real love. The man in her arms felt both fragile and powerful with each heart beat being a precious commodity she would kill before she lost.

"I love you," Ed whispered, the words leaving her lips before she realized what she was saying. Roy's head lifted up to meet her gaze and to her amazement he was smiling. It wasn't the soft smile nor the smirk he typically wore, but a smile of pure undiluted joy that made her yearn for him.

"I love you too," Roy returned and kissed her again, pulling her down into sheets.


	14. Chapter 14

This is an OPTIONAL chapter, about Ed and Roy getting down with their dirty selves. I understand not everyone likes reading the porny bits so you can skip this if you want. For those of you who want all the juicy goodness, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 14 (optional)

Ed gripped the sheets so hard that if she still had automail fingers they would have ripped the material to shreds. Roy was hovering over her, kissing his way down her torso.

"Tell me when to stop," Roy told her. Although he was loath to halt now that he finally had this beautiful woman laid flush in his bed with her confession of love still filling his body to bursting.

Ed nodded, her heart hammering. Now that she had admitted her feelings everything else just sort of fell into place. She needed Roy like she needed water to survive. And the way he was kissing her, slow and sensual like she was made of porcelain, was sending pangs through her heart. The worry of her scar was replaced by the pleasure from earlier. "Roy," Ed pleaded as the man kissed around her cleavage. "Just take it off."

Roy slipped his hands behind her back and fiddled with the clasp a moment before it broke free and the material loosened. He pulled it off, revealing two perk breasts that flattened slightly without the supportive underwire. He glanced curiously at the tag on bra. "You wear a C," he praised before tossing the garment to the side.

She wasn't too uncomfortable with Roy seeing her naked chest. After all, as a man she'd walked around without a shirt plenty of times before. "They're annoying. Too big."

"I think they're just right," Roy told her and messaged the mounds experimentally. He was pleased when Ed gasped and pressed up. Encouraged, he licked one of the nipples. Ed's eyes rolled shut and she hissed a sharp breath between her teeth. He licked again. Then the other nipple. Back and forth, little tastes that had Ed wriggling up into his mouth. Finally, he drew as much of left breast into his mouth and gave it a hard suck, causing the woman below him to shiver.

Continuing his worship of her chest his fingers reached down and pressed up through the boxer material into her core.

Ed grabbed Roy's shoulder. "Wait..wait…" she gasped.

"Do you want me to stop?" Roy wondered.

Ed's brain had screeched to a halt when the burst of pure pleasure had shot up through her. Roy had touched something down there and just a simple press had felt amazing. "Just…take off your shirt or something."

Roy studied her a moment before getting up and yanking off what was left of his shirt. He tossed it to the side and then slipped off his trousers and socks. Ed's mouth went dry at the sight of Roy's toned chest. It wasn't overly muscular but Roy had abs and definition that drew an arrow straight down to his crotch. "There. Now we match," Roy said, looking between his black boxers and her blue ones. The only difference was his had a rather large tent. Ed's eyes widened and she licked her lips. That was going to eventually go _inside _her. The idea was both incredibly erotic and downright terrifying.

Roy noticed where Ed was looking and glanced down. "You don't have to…" he started, but Ed was already up on her knees and perched on the edge of the bed. At this height she was on eye level with Roy's crotch and she heard the older man swallow thickly as he looked down at her. "But I want to…" Ed said determinedly. She pulled the boxers down enough to release the penis inside. It was circumcised, and a good size; maybe a little bigger than hers used to be. She wrapped her fingers around it and gave Roy a devilish smile. "I'm probably the only woman alive who knows what this is going to feel like," she told him right before she boldly licked the head.

Roy let out a gasp, and watched, amazed, as Ed's little pink tongue peaked out again and again to lavish the head of his cock. But it wasn't like Ed wasn't nervous. He could hear it in her shaky breaths. Yet despite her anxious desire, Ed was finding that she quite liked doing this. It was soothing, and soon she was drawing more of the taunt skin into her mouth. She licked the head, knowing that was the most sensitive part, and ran her hands along the shaft, bobbing every so often.

"Ed." Roy let out a moan as he watched his cock disappear between her lips. He could feel the heat already beginning to grow. Ed wasn't kidding when she said she knew what it was going to feel like, and she was using that to her full advantage to drive him insane. "Ed…I'm not going to last if you don't stop."

Ed pulled away with a little pop. "Oh I have no intention of stopping," she said lustfully, each word fluttering against his skin as her lips moved. She took him in again, bobbing faster now. She felt Roy tightening up, heard his breaths quicken right before her mouth was filled with a sticky bitter taste. She swallowed on instinct and pulled back.

His knees shaking, Roy collapsed heavily onto the bed.

"Spunk tastes weird," Ed said after a moment.

Roy laughed. "I'm surprised you even did that," he admitted. "I thought you'd be too shy."

Ed reached over to the side table and drained a glass of old water that was sitting there. "I wanted you to feel good," Ed told him.

"Can I make you feel good now?" Roy wondered and leaned in to kiss her. Ed froze immediately. "What's wrong?" He patiently backed off.

"Its weird down there," Ed told him. "What are you going to do?"

"Well…I thought I'd do what you did to me," Roy said patiently. "Only a little different."

Ed looked at him wide eyed. "You mean put your mouth down there!?" she squeaked. "I mean I can get a blow job. A mouth is just another wet warm hole, but what's so great about a guy's tongue down there?"

"Let me show you and you'll see," Roy said and nudged her down to lie on her back. "Just think of it as equivalent exchange."

Roy kissed around the top of her boxers before pulling them down inch by inch until he finally slipped them off to join the pile of clothes on the floor. Then he just looked at her. Her beautiful full breasts fell like droplets off her collar bones and melted effortlessly with her strong stomach before ending in wide hips. Murmuring sweet nothings as he kissed uncharted territory, Roy pulled her legs apart and settled in between her flesh and automail legs.

Ed was having a friggen heart attack and she just stared wide-eyed up at the ceiling, waiting for Roy to sit back up and declare she was too weird. That the gate had screwed up and she was just some fucked up sexless freak. She felt his breath before she felt his fingers. They spread the split apart and then something warm and wet was sliding up and when it reached the top she jumped at the intense feeling.

"Roy," Ed gasped out loud and then the tongue was back teasing that button that sent sweet hot pleasure up through her. She reached down and gripped his hair again, all shyness starting to fade. His hand messaged and lifted her bottom from underneath as Ed's whole body shook. She dared a glanced down to see Roy looking at her from over the triangle of golden pubic hair. His eyes were almost black and he watched her like a predator that had finally ensnared its prey. One of his hands moved from her bottom to slip upwards and Ed felt one finger press against her entrance. Roy waited to see if Ed would say no before pressing in all of the way.

It was almost instantaneous. The moment Ed felt the pain and pleasure of Roy's finger coupled with his tongue on her clitoris she was gone. Her backed arched up and pressed down into Roy's waiting mouth as her walls clamped and she came against him.

Roy pulled away and shifted up to lay next to Ed. He gave her a little kiss on the lips which she halfheartedly returned as she panted. She turned her head and he could see her eyes were glazed over.

"So…did you like it," Roy asked, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice. Ed nodded.

"I love you," Ed said and smiled as she turned and cuddled into him. "I mean I loved you before but…I think that just made me love you more."

"I love you too," Roy said and wrapped his arm around her. He reached over and flicked off the light before drifting off in exhausted bliss.


	15. Chapter 15

I...LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

anyway I want you all to know I cackled in glee at your remarks on the previous lime, especially for those of you that wished for a lemon. And all I have to say is that while you can make lemonade with lemons you can make margarita with limes. Stay thirsty my friends.

Chapter 15

Olan Harbring had come from a long line of hard men. Drachma does that to you. In the far north where food and resources were slim, his people had long ago begun the practices of plundering other countries for their goods. But the time his ancestors had invaded Amestris with swords and spears to take what they needed had long ago ended. Now they had to be smarter. Their prey had grown teeth and the only way to outsmart a wolf was to offer it a steak.

And that had been just what he had done; offered the current Fuhrer and several generals a large juicy steak in the form of endless wealth and an immortal life. Harbring walked slowly around the catwalk that hung over the laboratory. Another ex-state alchemist was being brought in from the prison below. His hands were held apart in stocks so he couldn't transmute, and even if he had tried he wouldn't have gotten far. Drachman guards stood at every exit, and the prisoners were starved before their experiments to keep them weak and pliable.

The man was shoved into the array on the floor.

"Activate it!" commanded the scientist, pointing a gun at him.

"Is this...oh my god is this written in blood," the alchemist asked in horror as he looked down at the array. He turned from side to side, trying to seek an escape.

The scientist smiled deviously. He was a short man, with crazed eyes behind small glasses that barely perched on his nose. "Where do you think your friend the Green Thumb Alchemist went?" the scientist cackled. "He also refused, so we scrapped him for parts."

"You're insane!" the man yelled.

"Don't!" the scientist screamed back, showing his manic side before calming himself down some. "Don't you make me shoot you and ruin my pretty array."

"Doctor Nuremberg." The scientist holding the gun looked up at Harbring. "Hurry this along."

The man in the center of the array was already tired and half-starved to death. But he was also a solider, and that defiant nature would not allow him to betray his honor. "Go ahead and kill me!" he spat.

"Bring her in," Nuremberg commanded and several guards led in a crying woman. She yelled in despair and made to run for the prisoner in the transmutation circle before she was held back. "Do it or your wife dies."

The prisoner faltered a minute before finally stooping down and putting his hands to the transmutation circle on the ground. Immediately, the lines glowed bright and the energy that surged through them fled up into his arms. The power was so great it started to tear his skin apart causing him to scream. His body twisted painfully before dragging itself upwards, no longer in control of itself. The man hovered in the air, his screaming abruptly stopping right before his body violently exploded in a burst of flames and crumpled to the ground. The transmutation circle was now going berserk. It broke the cement it was on and the building started to shake in protest, threatening to collapse.

Other scientists in the room rushed forward, using their strength to direct the bomb down under the earth to dissipate. Finally the shaking ceased, and the transmutation circle fizzled out. The room grew completely silent save for the mournful wails of the woman who had sunk to her knees at the sight of her husband's dead body.

Doctor Nuremberg waddled into the middle and kicked the charred body that remained there with a dissatisfied snort, before wheeling around and smacking the woman.

"It didn't work!" he wailed like a petulant child. "Why didn't it work?"

"Not strong enough," a silky voice said across the room. Lust stepped out from the shadows with her faithful companion Gluttony beside her. "You're never going to make it work with filth like that."

"Then what do you propose?" Olan Harbring asked from above. He had observed the entire display in silence.

"Try someone it'll recognize. A strong alchemist who has dealt with it," Lust said softly.

"But who!?" the doctor squalled.

"Fullmetal's brother," Lust purred, watching Gluttony stalk closer to the crying woman on the floor.

"Lust can I eat her? Lust? Can I?" he whimpered.

Lust waved her hand at him. "Yes you may," she granted and Gluttony lunged.

* * *

Roy jolted awake, his mind reeling as the tendrils of horror slipped away. He was safe in his own home with the warmth of Ed next to him. He sat up and swung his legs over to sit on the bed, the nightmares causing restless tremors. The movement woke Ed and she turned over and reached out to caress his shoulder. "Okay?" she mumbled in a half awake stupor.

"Bad dream," Roy explained. He felt the hand on his shoulder tug and he slipped back under the covers. Ed pulled him over into a hug and he pressed him into her chest. They were both still nude and he drew comfort from their skin to skin contact.

"I get 'em too," Ed told him.

Roy started to count Ed's heartbeats as they thumped beneath his head. Like counting sheep, the steady pulse calmed him.

"Do you need to talk about it? You can talk about it Roy," Ed assured him.

"It was just about killing people. Just blood and sand and I couldn't stop even though I wanted to," Roy described. "It was like going to another world and that world was so awful that no one here could ever imagine it. It was like hell. And then you come back and they want to congratulate you. They'll never understand and they don't care to." He shook his head. "And this world is so different and everyone is so happy, and they want you to be happy too. But every time you hear fireworks you think bombs. And then you feel guilty that you're not happy."

"And then because you feel guilty you feel more unhappy," Ed included. She stroked his hair as he talked. Each word he'd said had hit her personally. She knew what it was like to feel so guilty that the sadness ate at you like a parasite. "You ever try to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Kill yourself."

Roy pulled away from her so he could look her in the eyes. She said it so conversationally. Like it was normal for the mind to turn to that solution.

"Once. But I chickened out," Roy told her. "Have you."

"Once," Ed said. "But I didn't chicken out. No before I could do it this obnoxious Colonel came looking for my dad and shook me and told me to get up." Ed reached up and kissed his forehead. "And I'm so happy he did."

Roy pulled her down and kissed her; unable to really describe the emotions he was feeling. All he knew was he needed the woman next to him. He knew he would never have to explain himself to Ed, because she already knew. They'd seen horror and laughter. The darkness and the light.

Still holding each other, they slipped back into sleep for the last few hours of the night, finally awakening as sunshine cut across the sheets. By that time the darkness had faded and after kissing Ed awake, Roy went to go make them coffee.

Ed yawned and stretched. She felt…rejuvenated, and for the first time in ages she looked down at her own flesh and it didn't feel alien. She traced the paths Roy had made across her torso all the way down to that curious little button that had made her see stars. To her absolute surprise, she'd found orgasm to be the same albeit concentrated in a different part of her body. It made her wonder what else might be the same. All this time she'd been so focused on what was different that the constants had been overlooked. Perhaps it was time to stop worrying so much. This was who she was going to be, and for the first time in a long time, Edward was completely happy.

Roy came back into the room and saw her laying on her back, the sheets pooled around her waist and her breasts bathed in morning light.

"Hello," Ed smirked, unabashedly checking out his groin and abs.

Roy saw the way her eyes were raking over his body like a three course meal. Where had all that embarrassment gone? "I've created a monster haven't I," Roy said right before Ed slid out of bed, gently took the coffee cups from his hands and placed them on the side table. Then she pressed up against him, kissing him and drawing him back to the bed. Roy let himself be led and they flopped down with him on top. "Mmm as much as I would love to spend all day like this, I have to go to work in an hour," he protested.

"Then we have an hour," Ed argued, already nibbling his neck and shoulder and rolling her hips against his hardening manhood.

"But I have to take a shower," Roy said, already wondering how late he could be before Riza came looking for him. Ed was definitely going to be a problem with his attendance record.

"Take me with you." Ed kissed his jaw. The early morning stubble turned her on more. It made him seem manly yet human. Only she wanted to see him like this.

Roy laughed out loud at her suggestion. He climbed off her and as Ed started to get up too, Roy threw her over his shoulder. Ed grabbed at his waist as she suddenly found herself flipped and her face in the middle of his back.

"Hey!" she yelled, all playfulness gone. "Put me down." She reddened when he gave her ass a smack. "Someone's gonna see," she protested weakly. "Through the windows."

"No one will see," he said and slipped out of the bedroom and down the hall, Ed arguing the whole way.

They ended up giving each other hand jobs in the shower with Ed's right leg thrown around his hips as she used the wall to balance. By the time he had downed his lukewarm coffee and thrown on his uniform it was ten minute to eight and Havoc was honking out front.

Ed kissed him, and assured that she could make her own way home. His Second Lieutenant gave him a cheeky smile when Roy slid into the back seat. "Busy this morning?" he asked as Ed gave them a little wave from the front step. It seemed so domestic, Roy in the car on his way to work and Ed standing on the front step in her navy dress. _It's almost like we were married_ Roy thought, the idea remarkably pleasant.

"Sir?" Havoc raised an eyebrow, and Roy stepped into his professional role of Colonel.

"Step on it or Hawkeye will have both our hides," Roy ordered.

Ed watched the car speed off before she started the long walk back to her apartment. The phone rang as soon as she entered the shop and she rushed to answer it. "Hello. Edna Elric speaking."

"Ed! Thank God," Winry said from over the speaker. "Where have you been? I've been calling all night."

"What's wrong?" Ed asked, hearing the panic in her voice.

_"Alphonse didn't come home on the train. Please tell me he's still there with you." _


	16. Chapter 16

Thank You always for the favorites and follows. I'd love to hear from some of you too if you'd like to review :)

Chapter 16

Hawkeye's scolding and even the depressing sight of Falman and Breda's empty desks couldn't get to him this morning. He was love sick. He really had no other way to describe the feeling of invincibility he felt. It was a strange thing to realize suddenly that he'd found 'the one' as Hughes called it. He felt like as long as he had Ed all other problems were just milestones he could overcome. He'd get his soldiers back and stop whatever Harbring had cooking up. With new determination he began his paperwork with vigor, already forming plans.

However, his resolve was short lived. After only a few hours of work in the office there was a shout and crash as if something in the hall had been smashed. Roy yanked out his gloves and strode over to the door and opened it just as Ed kicked her way in. She shot a venomous glance at the two soldiers that had pursued her rampage.

"If I want to talk to my boyfriend, then I'm going to," she growled at them. "Now PISS OFF!" She swung back around and crossed the room, ignoring the shocked looks from Havoc, Fury, and Hawkeye. She grabbed Roy by the collar and hauled him into his inner office, kicking the door shut with her foot.

"Edna," Roy said, careful to use her full name in case anyone was listening. "What is the meaning of this? You can't just barge…" He stopped when Ed started scribbling something on a pad of paper at his desk.

"It's important Roy. I couldn't wait until you got off work," Ed said and held the paper up. _Al in trouble. Need Military Car. _

"Be that as it may a phone call should have sufficed," Roy said, writing underneath _What happened?_

_Winry said he never made it home. Could be kidnapped. Next train to Risembol doesn't leave until tomorrow morning. Could be too late. _Ed scrawled back hastily before adding, "I'm sorry."

"How about I meet you for lunch and we can discuss this more privately," Roy said and wrote back _Meet me at my house in an hour. _

"I'll see you then," Ed said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. They had to be careful of how they acted in case any spies were listening. Ed coming here had been a risk, especially after announcing their involvement in front of two security officers. Roy was sure the rumor mill would be buzzing within the hour as to who the mystery woman calling herself Roy's girlfriend had been.

"We'll figure it out. I promise," Roy said to Ed.

Ed nodded, her sheer willpower coating her squared shoulders like armor as she exited the office. Sure enough a large crowd of military personal had gathered in the hallway to get a glimpse of the young lady walking out like she owned the place.

"I apologize for the intrusion," Roy said to the security officers that had chased Ed to the office. "I take full responsibility for her actions and assure you she will cause no more damage. Please escort her to the front gate."

"Yes sir," the men responded with quick salutes, flanking Ed.

As soon as they had left, the tittering of secretaries and the gossip of soldiers began to spread.

"No way…"

"Girlfriend? Did you hear that?"

"Was that even a girl? She was wearing leather pants."

"So Mustang's finally stopped fooling around."

Roy glared at the group of bystanders, earning a few embarrassed faces. After shutting out the rabble he called what was left of his crew into his office.

"Edna came to inform me that you'll all be joining us for lunch," Roy said. "We leave within the hour, and Havoc I need you to go fill the car."

"Sir…" Hawkeye began, but Roy waved her off. "Hawkeye I'd like you to head to the gun range before we go," Roy hinted. "And Fury I need you to get a few things for me." He slid the young man a list including train stops between Central and Risembol and any reported disturbances. "Dismissed."

* * *

Ed was sitting on Roy's front step, her leg constantly shaking in her haste to be gone. She was in her leather pants, black tank top, and large boots. She'd also put on her metal bracelet and thrown a couple pieces of chalk into her pockets.

How long had it been? Too long. Al could be hurt or worse and she was just sitting here. But she knew her brother. He hadn't gone down without a fight, and if she could just start retracing his route home she knew she'd find some clue. And when she finally found him, god help the morons who kidnapped him in the first place.

She jumped up when the car came to a halt in front of the house, but stopped when Hawkeye, Havoc, and Fury exited the car as well.

"Roy…" Ed started but he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"We have to explain everything to them first," Roy told her. "We were going to do this anyway, it might as well be now."

"But we have to go," Ed protested. "Right now!"

"They have a right to know, Ed!" Roy said. "Havoc and Fury need to understand. We don't know who took Alphonse and they could be putting their lives on the line."

"Wait a minute!" Havoc interjected. "Alphonse is missing?"

Roy opened the front door to his home and ushered everyone in. Dutifully they all came in, Ed last of all. She started pacing in front of the fire suddenly felt nervous. Roy was right of course. This charade had been going on too long.

She took a deep breath and faced Havoc and Fury.

"Edward Elric is not dead," Ed said and held out her hands as if that was all the explanation they needed.

"Huh?" Havoc said after a moment and tilted his head to the side. However, Fury's hand flew to his mouth as he let out a gasp of recognition. Havoc looked between Ed and Fury, still thoroughly confused.

"But how did you…is it permanent?" Fury wondered coming up and walking around Ed. "I mean how did you get your arm back?"

"It's sort of a long story," Ed said. "Basically I had to get Alphonse's body back. And when I did I got my arm back and was changed into a girl."

"Wait," Havoc's eyes suddenly got huge. "You mean… BOSS!?" Then he pointed at Roy. "You're dating the boss?!"

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ed's a woman whom you flirted with, and the only thing you're freaking out about is the fact we're dating." Havoc paled considerably at Roy's mention of his previous advances on Ed.

"Don't worry about it Havoc," Ed said with a shrug. "Now. I need your guys help. Alphonse is missing. He came to visit last week and left on the train yesterday morning. He should have gotten home in the evening, but Winry said he never showed up."

"And the reason she didn't try to contact you last night was because…" Hawkeye inquired.

Roy and Ed glanced at each other. "Um…she did," Ed said. "But I wasn't home."

"Fury," Roy interjected, pointedly ignoring the disapproving look from Hawkeye, "What have you got from the train stops I asked you to investigate."

Fury fumbled a minute before pulling out the pages he'd collected. "There are ten stops between Risembol and Central. Most of them are small towns. There were two disturbances. One in Westhaven there was a drunken brawl at the local pub, and in Little Creek there was a break in at the town market."

"Neither of those," Roy said as he tried to think. "We're looking for strange happenings. Large holes and earth shafts suddenly appearing. Signs of alchemical struggle."

Fury flipped through his notes. "In Ethico a farmer reported some damaged crops," he said. "And his farm is a quarter of a mile from the train station."

"We'll start there," Ed said, too impatient to be standing here a moment more. "I'll know Al's alchemy the moment I see it."

"Alright then," Roy declared. "If there are no more questions, let's head out."

* * *

Alphonse awoke to find his face pressed against hard concrete and his hands in stocks. He winced and reached back to feel the cut on his head.

The thugs who had jumped him at the train station hadn't stood a chance. Alphonse had thrown up a shield and after maneuvering around them had managed to entangle them both in the metal fencing that ran parallel to the track. However, that had only been a distraction. Just as Alphonse had started to stand, the trace of alchemy still on his fingertips, the homunculus had come out and kicked him right in the head. He'd stumbled, and received another kick in the ribs.

"No pipsqueak brother to save you huh!?" Envy had taunted. "And now you're flesh and bone. Perfect for KICKING!"

Al had managed to roll away and make a run for it, using his alchemy to throw up barriers behind him as he cut into the trees near the station. Then suddenly something black had sliced through the darkness and he drop to his knees, sliding to avoid Lust's blade-like finger. Gluttony was right behind her, the creature mad with hunger and running like a dog on all fours.

In his conscious state, Al tried to make sense of the last few seconds. He was running, dodging Lust's fingers when one had finally nicked his shoulder inflicted a deep flesh wound that had him jumping to the side and throwing up a wall of earth to hurtle at her. And just as he'd turned around he'd been tackled and his head hit something hard.

He reached up to inspect his shoulder and found it bandaged. His head too was covered, but the bump still throbbed painfully. Next he checked his ribs, rolling back his shirt to find his stomach a multicolor of black and blue. Luckily nothing seemed to be broken.

After taking stock on his current state, he began inspecting his prison. It was small. Four windowless cement walls with a pallet on the floor next to a bucket. The door had a small slit in the bottom and a barred window up top. He peered through to see another door similar to his own.

"Hello," he called out. No answer. "HELLO! Is there anybody there!? What's going on?" He coughed. The yelling hurt his already bruised stomach.

"Alphonse?" a voice called back. There was a hearty laugh. "Ho boy am I glad to hear you. Falman! It's Alphonse."

"Breda?" Alphonse wondered. "What the hell are you two doing here."

"We got transferred," the man said bitterly. "Loaded us and a half dozen ex-state alchemists onto a train, but an hour into the trip the entire car filled with gas and knocked us out cold. Next thing, we're waking up here."

"Can you get us out?" Falman said, his face suddenly appearing in the cell adjacent from Al's.

Al tried to touch his fingers together but the stocks held them to far apart. He looked around for something to write with, even feeling in his pocket for some spare bit of chalk. Maybe he could cut his finger and draw in blood. He tried to move his hands to swing them around to the front of his body, but one good tug found the stocks were chained to his belt.

"Sorry," Alphonse said. "They got me tied up pretty good in here. But Winry will know I'm missing soon and she'll get ahold of Ed."

"Your cousin? What's she gonna do?" Breda wondered.

Alphonse faltered. They could be in mortal danger, but then they could be watched too. He wasn't sure how much he should divulge about Ed's secret. "She's dating Colonel Mustang," he said, hoping that that answer would suffice. "She can contact him."

"You think…" But Falman's reply was cut off at the sound of a door being opened. The three huddled back into their respective cells.

"We got five alchemists, two spares, and the boy," someone said and there was a cackle of glee.

"Ooo. Perfect perfect." A little man with overtly small glasses appeared in his window to give him a crazed smile.


	17. Chapter 17

Readers: HOLY SHIT YOU UPDATED!WE HAVEN'T SEEN YOU SINCE OCTOBER!  
Me: Yep  
Readers: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?  
Me: Writing a novel...it is almost done. Also here's a new chapter :) I'm going to TRY to get back into this story now. I've been living in canon land for awhile with my OCs. Enjoy.

Chapter 17

They had investigated all around the train station. Ed had immediately dropped down to the warped fence, following the trail into the woods to find uprooted trees and large blocks of earth. Hawkeye had outfitted them all with guns but Ed had refused hers. She was too busy trying to remap the struggle. It was hard to tell with so much destruction if another alchemist was involved. That is until she came to the last few trees at the edge of the farm fields. They had perfect circles cut out of them.

"Lust," Ed hissed out the word like a curse. She had left the homunculus buried under a pile of burning rubble. Nothing should have survived, and yet here was evidence to the contrary. Did that mean Gluttony had survived too? Pride was dead. Roy had seen to that. And Wrath had been dragged back into the gate screaming. Ed and Alphonse had disposed of Sloth. Greed was locked up. She had last seen Envy falling down an elevator shaft right before she collapsed the building on Lust and Gluttony. That should have been the end of it.

"Are you sure," Roy said coming over to check the trees. "I thought you said the only one left alive was Greed, and he can't do any more harm where he is."

"I'd know her handwork anywhere," Ed assured him.

"Do you think it was revenge?"

"Could be," Ed said and bent down to examine the footprints. It looked like something or someone had been dragged back towards the train station. "Are there any roads near the station?"

"Just one. It heads North away from town to the mountains," Fury said. He held out the map he was holding. Ed followed the road up, her finger finally settling on an old observatory at the summit. "We can check there first."

The way up to the observatory was a quiet one. They finally reached the old building and found the outside surrounded by guards. Havoc parked the car down at the bottom of the road and they carefully made their way up, hiding in the shadows.

"Sir," Hawkeye whispered. "There's too many of them. I doubt we'll be able to break in with just the five of us."

"Then I'll go alone," Ed said and clapped, creating a hole in the fence. "You guys stay out here and do damage control." Roy grabbed her shoulder, to stop her.

"I'm coming too," he said. "Hawkeye we might be on the run when we get out. I need you to station yourselves to cover us and have the car ready for a quick getaway."

They slipped through the hole and around to the back of the building, Ed making a door in the wall. It opened into a small hallway and after a quick check that no one was around they careful made their way into the building. Ed's whole body tingled with adrenaline as she peaked inside open doors and looked for any sign of her brother. But it looked, for all purposes, like a normal office building. There were desks lined with papers and maps of Amestris. At the sound of approaching boots they dove into an empty room, hiding behind the door until they passed. Ed peaked around the room. It looked to be a private office with a large oak desk standing center stage. But what drew Ed's eye was the alchemical symbols scattered on the papers covering it.

"Roy," Ed whispered, motioning for him to look at the papers. "These look similar to the one you gave me." He saw the progression of research, each circle changing as it became closer and closer to the one that Roy had given Ed to study.

Suddenly, Roy grabbed one of the papers and his jaw tightened. "Harbring," he cursed and showed the paper to Ed. It was a letter to a Dr. Nuremburg about a confirmation of money transfer to a facility several miles northeast of Fort Briggs.

There was a click from the door and Ed grabbed Roy, dropping them both behind the desk and out of sight. Roy huddled with his back against the wood and Ed sitting in between his legs to make them as small as possible. He wrapped one hand around her protectively with the other ready to snap. Ed poised to clap at the moment someone rounded the desk and spotted them.

"I've already sent the alchemists," someone said. "What do you want us to do with the spares?"

"Bring them. I'd rather use them for parts then our subjects," another replied. There was some shuffling and a piece of paper was picked up from the desk. "Here are the supplies we need. Make sure you get them and have them at Lab C by tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll be retiring for the night, and keep an eye on the homunculus. I don't want them going wherever they want," the man said.

"Sir?"

"I don't trust them, especially that one that can change his face." The light switched off and there was a movement as two people exited the room. "When this is all over I want them exterminated. This is my…" But the rest of the conversation was cut off as the door closed. There was another click as the lock was drawn.

Roy relaxed and let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Envy is here," Ed said softly as she stood up and helped him to his feet. She rushed to the door but Roy pulled her back and behind him. "Roy we don't have time…" Roy put his finger to her lips to shush her.

"Just do me a favor and stay behind me," he said, feeling more at ease this way. Roy knew Ed was capable of handling herself but if someone was to fire at them, Roy preferred to take the bullet. He opened the door slowly and checked the hall was clear before running. Ed stopped when she spotted a door that led to a flight of stairs. They descended down and found themselves in a sort of boiler room. A guard stood at the other side of the room, blocking a door. He raised his rifle at their sudden appearance, but before he could squeeze off a shot, a burst of flame blinded him. The gun grew so hot he dropped it and before he could reorient himself Ed trapped his legs in the floor with alchemy.

"Where are the prisoners," She asked grabbing him by his collar and shaking him. The man just stuttered blankly at her and she shook him harder. "Where is Al!?"

"Ne delay mne bol'no," the man uttered obviously terrified of the screaming woman slowly squeezing the air out of him.

"Prisono," Ed said, switching to Drachman, and the guard pointed to the door behind him. Ed stood and gave him a swift kick to the head rendering him unconscious.

"Did you have to kick him, Ed?" Roy asked as he rummaged for the key in the man's pockets. He unlocked the door.

"We'll have more time to escape if he can't yell for help," Ed explained, going into the dark room.

Most of the cell doors stood ajar and they began systematically looking through each of them. "Alphonse?"

"Hello?" A voice called from farther down the line. "Edna? Oh thank god. Is the colonel with you?"

"We'll have you out in a moment," Roy assured as both Falman and Breda's faces appeared. A little bit of alchemy to rust away the locks and cuffs and both soldiers were free.

"Where's Alphonse?" Ed asked.

"Gone," Breda explained, rubbing his wrists. "They took him and the other alchemists about a half hour ago."

"Who else was here?" Roy questioned as well.

"Not sure exactly, but I know Larson, the Obsidian Alchemist, and Bailey, the Terracycle Alchemist, were locked up down here with us. I think Kissel too although the way the guards talked he was taken to the medical ward."

"Right we check the medical wards and find out where the prisoners were taken," Roy ordered giving Breda his spare gun. Falman went out and took the rifle from the unconscious solider.

"But Colonel…what about?" Breda nodded in Ed's direction and watched as she smirked. "Oh don't worry. I can handle myself," Ed assured and cracked her fingers. "They didn't call me Fullmetal for nothing."

Breda and Falman both looked confused but Roy waved it off quickly. "We'll explain later. For now we need to move."

Then they were off, up the corridor they had come and rushing down the hall. Luckily most were empty with it being so late at night, but a few times they'd had to stop and skirt around a guard or passerby. Ed's heart was hammering as adrenaline rushed through her and the mantra of _Alphonse Alphonse Alphonse_ flitted through her head. At least he was alive. That gave her hope. And from what those men had said earlier, they needed him alive for something. But how long was that? How long until their luck out?

They followed the glowing green signs down to the medical ward, but it was empty save for a panicked nurse that Breda aimed a gun at while Falman tied her to chair. A few words with Ed in Drachman revealed Kissel was long gone.

"They took him and the others to the trucks a few hours ago."

"HEY!"

Ed glanced over her shoulder as Roy twisted and sent a ball of fire toward the two armed men standing in the doorway. There were screams but they didn't check to see if the victims were dead as they leapt over they're burnt bodies. They started to sprint down the hall way, the lights suddenly turning red as an announcement was made over the intercom.

"Stay close to me!" Ed instructed as they neared the end of the hall. She clapped and her hand slammed against the wall, opening a hole to the courtyard beyond. A siren was going off now as the sleeping guards sprang to action. Ed rushed towards the trucks, but was snatched back as the ground where she'd been was peppered with bullets. She looked up at Roy who held her protectively against his chest. Several bangs turned her attention back to the guard tower to see the figures above disappear. Looks like Hawkeye and Furey were on the hill with the sniper rifles. Ed broke free of Roy's grasp and clapped. A wall of earth sprang up on either side of them, creating a protective tunnel that led to the trucks.

They ran, Breda returning fire to the men standing in the hole they'd left in the building. Ed started desperately looking in the back of the trucks. "Empty. They're all empty," she said in frustration.

"They must have already taken Alphonse with the other alchemists. I think I know where we're they've gone," Roy said as he snapped, clearing a path around the trucks. "Get in." They all clambered into one of the vehicles and Falman revved the engine. "Hold on." He punched it and they sped out and away from the building, barreling through the metal gate and down the road away from the facility.

Ed opened the door and looked behind them at the soldiers already in pursuit.

"Ed what are you doing?" Roy asked as the girl moved to the edge of her seat and braced herself. "Wait!" He reached out but it was too late. Ed launched herself from the truck and rolled to a halt. She stood up slowly; a lone figure standing against an army. She would not allow them to hurt anyone else. They would pay for what they'd done. She took a deep breath and clapped, pouring all her ferocity into the array as she placed her hands on the ground.

It felt like an earthquake. The road before them buckled and Falman hit the brake as they looked back to watch rocks the size of houses bounce down the mountainside towards the facility, crushing walls and personnel alike. In moments it was over, the building demolished and the last of the men wounded or worse. Ed then stood up, cooly dusted off her hands, walked back to the truck, and hopped in.

"Let's go find Alphonse."

* * *

"Ed…Edna…Edward Elric!" Roy snapped at the possessed woman. Two days ago they had rescued Breda and Falman, but the men had been ignorant to the enemy's plan. Since then Ed had been sleeping over at Roy's, pouring over notes and scrap pieces of confidential documents Roy's crew recovered. But so far they had come up with almost nothing.

What they did know was that the enemy was: One, trying to create some sort of human transmutation super bomb. Two, working with the homunculus Envy, Lust, and maybe Gluttony. Three, needed alive and skilled alchemists to do it. Four, had most likely taken those alchemists to a Lab C somewhere northeast of Briggs. And most importantly, Five, Harbring was involved in this whole mess. And if he was involved then the Fuhrer was involved which meant they had to rescue Alphonse alone and in secret.

"Hmm…what?" Ed replied tiredly as she marked yet another possible location on the map she'd been staring at for two hours. There was too much mountainous terrain to cover. Not to mention the facility could be hidden or even underground. It would take a miracle to find it at this rate.

"You need to stop." Roy protested from across the kitchen table. "You've been at it for days. You barely sleep and you haven't eaten since last night."

"I can't," Ed argued. "This is my fault. I'm sure of it." Her hands gripped the table. "Al's not a state alchemist. They had no reason to go after him. The only reason was me!" She pointed at herself and cursed the exasperated tears that stung her eyes. She hastily pushed them away. "I am dead. Can't they just let me rot in peace and leave my family alone?"

"Stop Ed." Roy moved around the table and pulled her into his chest. He felt her tense, like a hurt wild animal wishing to attack, but then she relaxed into him. She let out the stress and deeply inhaled Roy's musky scent. He needed a shower. They both did. So much had happened they hadn't really talked nor done anything in terms of _them._ Romance seemed like such a superficial thing when people were getting kidnapped for who-knows-what terrible scheme.

"I know you feel like it's your fault, but this isn't helping Alphonse," Roy reasoned. "Maybe we need to go at this a new way. I know someone inside Briggs. Someone we can trust."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ed wondered. "Let's go talk to them then. We don't have to tell them everything, but if we explain about…"

"I didn't say anything because I don't know if they'll help," Roy explained.

"And why wouldn't they?" Ed looked up to study Roy's face. He looked anxious.

"Well…its Armstrong's sister."

"Armstrong's…? So what? She an old girlfriend or something? Roy I don't care about that," Ed said dismissively. "Besides if she's anything like Armstrong then its fine."

"That's just it," Roy sighed. "She's as cold and frigid as Briggs and that fort is all she cares about. Not to mention a message could take weeks to reach her."

"Then we'll go in person," Ed reasoned. "The worst that happens is we're back to square one." It wasn't like Ed hadn't done that before. So many times the hunt for the stone had ended with them back to square one. Thinking of the stone made Ed think of Alphonse. _Don't worry baby brother. I'm coming for you._


	18. Chapter 18

I did a double update to make up for my absence. I got a new job so...yeah :)

Chapter 18

Edward shivered in the red coat Roy had bought her. She had assumed the train went to Fort Briggs, but of course life couldn't be that easy. Instead it dropped them off in a town several miles away and they had to make it the rest of the way there on their own.

None of the others had come with them. Falman and Breda had been sent to do reconnaissance work on the Fuhrer which left Hawkeye and Furey back at headquarters to keep the office functioning. Roy had taken a 'long overdo vacation with his new girlfriend' and wasn't scheduled to be back in the office for a week. With any luck, no one would miss them or be the wiser to their absence.

Ed tapped her foot impatiently as she waited by the bags. She'd slept uncomfortably on the train ride and still had circles under her eyes. She figured she'd sleep when Alphonse was safe. Ed perked up some when Roy reappear from the rental shop carrying keys.

"The snowmobile is ours for the next couple days," Roy said and swung his pack over his shoulder. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Edward said and grabbed her pack as well. They trudged through the snow to the corral where the vehicles were kept. They were basic orange snowmobiles with white numbers painted on the sides. Ed opened the compartment under the seat and they threw their gear in before jumping on.

Ed held out her hand for the keys and Roy hesitated. "Maybe I should drive," he said.

"You ever driven one of these before?" Ed wondered.

"No, but neither have you," Roy countered with a small smile.

"Then stop wasting time and get on." Ed made a grab for the keys and Roy held them out of reach. "C'mon Roy. Gimme."

"It's just…if I was to ride behind you…" Roy faltered and looked embarrassed. Ed raised an eyebrow and the image of her driving the snowmobile with Roy's arms around her popped into her head. He would be hunched over her due to his height (not that she liked to admit that) and his whole torso would be pressed into her back. "I'd just feel more comfortable driving. It has nothing to do with you being a girl...you just haven't driven before...not to mention if we're seen it would seem weird if the guy wasn't driving," Roy finished awkwardly and took a step back like Ed might punch him.

"You're kidding," Ed said in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "Okay first of all 'the guy drives' is the stupidest thing ever heard. Secondly, I used to be a guy so that statement is invalid. And Thirdly, we don't have time for this." She pat the seat behind her. "Get on or I'm leaving you here."

"Ed."

She gave him a pointed look that he'd seen far too often from Hawkeye. Ed was getting better at the whole 'being a woman' thing. She had the female 'stop being a dumbass' glare down pat. "Get on Colonel Bastard." Roy sighed and finally got on the vehicle.

Ed started it up and it gave a lurch that almost threw them off. Ed fiddled with the controls a bit and the snowmobile nearly careened into the side of the corral. "You need to…" Roy said and pointed to one of the buttons on the handle.

"I got it just give me a minute," Ed growled and the snowmobile suddenly twisted out of the corral, finally unseating them both. They landed with a poof in the snow as the vehicle tipped over and died. "Okay fine," Ed grumbled as she brushed snow out of her jacket. "You can drive."

An hour later they finally cleared the town limits with Roy maneuvering the vehicle north towards Briggs and an unhappy Edward hugging him around the middle.

Despite all her earlier bellyaching she was relieved he was here with her. She wouldn't have trusted this mission to anyone else. Roy was strong and handsome and perfect, and she felt almost blessed that she'd been turned into a girl if only because it gave her the ability to have this relationship with him. She wished she could sleep with her face buried in Roy's coat, but the cold stinging air was just harsh enough to prevent her from getting comfortable.

"How far to Briggs?" she asked as they slowed to maneuver around another clump of snow laden pine trees. They had been driving for maybe an hour and a half.

"The man at the snowmobile rental said it's around a day on foot and five hours with a vehicle. There are rest stops along the way so if we have to we can stop," he assured her.

Ed picked up her head and looked around, spotting a huge shelf of clouds coming over the mountains. "Was there a storm in the forecast?" Ed pointed to the clouds which were picking up speed now that they'd covered the rocky peaks.

"Shit," Roy said and picked up speed. "Get the map out. We might need to find one of those rest stops."

As Ed rummaged to open the map, the blanket of clouds covered the sun. She squinted at the paper, but couldn't make heads or tails of where they were. "I can't read this," he shouted up to Roy. They stopped the snowmobile momentarily and Roy turned to take a look. After some deciphering, Roy declared they had to be somewhere northeast of the town. "That's the trees we just passed which means the shelter is there." He restarted the vehicle as big flakes began falling and the wind picked up. Ed shoved the map down the front of her snow jacket to keep it from blowing away. The visibility was decreasing by the moment and the temperature had plummeting to the point where Ed could no longer feel her face. If they didn't find shelter soon, they were dead.

Roy could feel Ed shaking behind him as he tried to spot the rest stop. He almost passed right by it before Ed noticed a dark shadow protruding from the ground fifty meters to their right. Upon closer inspection, Roy found it was little more than a shack. They parked the snowmobile under the overhang and hurried inside.

Although the shack kept out the wind and snow, it had no insolation which meant it was as cold inside as it was outside. Ed immediately went to the tiny cast iron wood stove and piled some wood inside. "Ro..Roy," she called and he snapped, causing the wood to ignite and fill the tiny space with light and a small amount of heat. He then lit an oil lamp that hung from the ceiling for additional light. The shack was one small room with a single door and a window. Along one wall was a hard metal cot with a thin mattress, and next to it was a chest filled with blankets. On the opposite wall was some shelving where Roy found a week's worth of dried rations.

He looked over to find Ed had exposed her automail leg and had it as close to the fire as possible. Roy came over and touched the metal. He flinched. It was so cold it burned his hands. "Ed we need to take this off." She shook her head, her teeth chattering too much for her to speak. "Ed you'll freeze to death if we don't get it off." She shook her head more violently. "Hu..rt," she said. Her nerves wouldn't like it being removed or reattached. He didn't want to hurt her but it had to come off.

"Just walk me through it okay. It'll be over in a moment and then we can get you something hot to eat," Roy assured. Ed still looked apprehensive. She wasn't a stranger to pain and it wasn't that she couldn't take it. But she didn't like having her leg off. It left her feeling vulnerable and weak. However, what Roy said was true. If this kept up, her automail would leech the heat from her body and they couldn't afford her getting frostbite or hypothermia. She nodded consent and reached down to point to the screws that kept her leg attached.

Roy used his jackknife to unscrew them and then grabbed the leg. "One…two…THREE." He yanked it off and Ed gave an involuntary yelp as all the nerves around her port severed contact with the automail. The hot pain lasted for a moment before it turned to a dull sufferable ache that worked its way into her knee. Before she had time to process anything else Roy was wrapping her in a blanket and hoisting her up on the bed. He helped her shed her wet outer clothes and then piled the remaining blankets on top of her.

She shivered as Roy fetch snow in a pot and used alchemy to instantly heat it. He deposited several packets of instant soup from their packs in the water and started shedding his own wet clothes. He hung the clothes around the shack on every surface he could find, and then busied himself filling two mugs from their packs.

Feeling a tad warmer, Ed reached off the bed and rummaged in the trunk for a pillow. She felt something hard at the bottom and pulled out a very old half empty bottle of rum.

"Well this will warm us up," Ed said and took a swig. The liquid burned her throat but almost instantly her belly grew hot and the ache in her leg seemed to recede.

"What's that?" Roy wondered as he got under the blankets and handed her a mug of soup.

"Natural aspirin," Ed joked and took another swig before handing him the bottle. She sipped her soup and sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Roy inspected the bottle and whistled. "This has been here awhile. It's thirty years old." Well there couldn't be much harm in drinking it. Rum didn't go bad and this blizzard was definitely going to delay them for the next day.

They took turns drinking the rum as they finished off the soup. Ed cheeks started to glow pink and she giggled, a sound Roy hadn't heard from her since Alphonse had gone missing. It was a nice sound.

"What's so funny?" Roy wondered.

"Our luck," Ed said. "We go to save Alphonse and I can't drive the snowmobile, then we almost die in a blizzard, and my automail gets cold enough to kill me." She sighed and shook her head. "If there is a god then he's an asshole."

Roy put down his mug and nuzzled into her neck. "It's not all that bad," he said. "I'm here." He kissed down her neck and was rewarded with another giggle.

"That tickles," Ed said and reached up to run her fingers through his hair. Her voice seemed to grow heavier as Roy's kisses got more needy. "Roy," she groaned. "Stop…it's the rum going to your head."

"You drank some too," Roy said and kissed her on the lips. As often happens with alcohol, his lips had gone a little numb which meant he had to kiss deeper in order to truly feel it. "I've missed this. I know you've been worried about Alphonse. I have too. But can we just be together. For tonight."

Ed hesitated a moment. "I feel guilty doing this when he's in danger," she admitted.

"You know he'd be mad at you for thinking like that," Roy reminded her. "We are stuck here for the night. We're both stressed. Please?" He kissed her again and ran his hands up her sides, pushing up her shirt.

If felt good. She wanted it. She wanted him. Maybe it was the rum. Maybe it was the fact she was still in pain from the automail. Maybe it was just that his warmth felt so good next to her. "Okay."

Roy smiled and kissed her again deeply. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you too."


	19. Chapter 19

This is pretty much all smut. Just adorable loving happy smut. (argh sorry for the ten edits. I'm super picky O_O I want this perfect)

Chapter 19 (optional)

Ed felt her cheeks heat up as Roy pulled off the last of their clothing. She was getting warmer now that they had skin to skin contact. Her mind grew hazy as she let Roy kiss down her neck to her breasts, worshiping each nipple with his tongue and teeth until she felt she was going to go crazy. It felt so good but…

"I want more," Ed moaned, her eyes half closed and heated. She pulled him back up to kiss him again, teasing his tongue with hers. It was amazing how shy she'd been before. Now she yearned for Roy's familiar scent and touch. She wanted everything.

Ed reached down between them and grabbed Roy's erection stroking it slowly. "Roy…" she moaned and felt him shudder. "I want you…" She swallowed thickly. There was no going back, but at the same time she didn't care. She wasn't physically a man anymore and she trusted Roy. Regardless of their past or her previous gender this is what felt right. "I want you inside me."

She felt Roy still. "Ed…"

"You wanted to do this."

"I meant some heavy petting and cuddling Ed," Roy explained. "I don't even have anything."

"I don't care."

Ed squeezed Roy's penis and he groaned. He wanted her too. His need to be with her along with the alcohol was slowly breaking down his reserves. Ed reached up and kissed his neck. He felt his resolve crumbling. She found a pulse point on his shoulder, bit down, and it was all over. Gone was Colonel Mustang, and gone was Roy. All that was left was a hot needy man with a beautiful woman he was determined to make his by the end of the night.

He grabbed her ass and squeezed harshly as he brought her bottom up closer to him. She gasped and felt a questing finger pushing her open, stretching her. "Roy," she begged, her fingers scrapping his arms as she held on. He was rougher then the first time. The first night he'd been the perfect gentleman. Now he was more primal and Ed found she liked this more dominate Roy.

She was wet and Roy raked his eyes down her body. Every part of her was perfect; strong muscles, golden eyes, sweet pink lips swollen from kissing, and rolling curves that begged him to squeeze and mark and kiss. Even her scars were beautiful. Everything was so Ed and it made him dizzy with lust.

"Now," Ed said, wanting something larger then fingers. He pulled her closer and positioned himself on top. She wrapped her one leg around him and he used his arm to support her other side.

"Take a deep breath," Roy instructed, not knowing whether it was for himself or Ed's benefit. Then he pushed. He slipped inside surprisingly easily considering Ed was a virgin, but she still winced from the sharp pain. "Are you okay?"

Ed didn't know how to feel. His body inside of hers so intimately was both pain and pleasure combined. It made her feel whole as if her entire life she had only been half a person and now she was finally complete. "I'm fine," she said. "Keep going."

Roy started moving in slow thrusts, and he felt Ed squeeze around him. They were both panting, their hot breath causing puffs of steam in the cold room. Ed arched up to kiss him and they melted together as Roy poured all of his passion into her. Her hips bucked and he picked up speed, the slap of their bodies adding to the storm growing between them.

"I need it deeper," Ed moaned.

"Then hold on," Roy told her and in a swift move rolled over without breaking their connection. Ed now found herself sitting on top of Roy with the blankets pooled around her waist. A few moments of maneuvering and Roy was helping her bounce up and down. The full weight of her body crashing down on his was deeper, and she found herself tipping forward so he hit that special pleasure point inside her. It was enough for the storm to reach its peak.

"Roy," she breathed and grabbed hold of him to anchor herself.

"Me too," Roy said.

Her body seemed to implode in a mix of pleasure and ecstasy and she convulsed down, her legs moving on their own as Roy came too.

She fell down on top of him, both of them breathing hard and sweating from their union. Ed pressed her knees to either side of his hips. It felt good to have him remain in her after. Her body felt tingly and all the aches off the day had melted away.

"Ed you need to get off now."

"No."

Roy sighed and kissed her cheek before rolling them sideways. He naturally slipped out of her and she immediately cuddled into his chest. "You're mine," she hummed affectionately.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm yours."


End file.
